Murder Most Spectral
by CynthiaW
Summary: Jack and Maddie Fenton are asked to install ghost shields on military bases in Virginia and Maryland. While staying on a Marine base, Danny witnesses a bizarre crime. NCIS is called in to investigate and they discover their strangest case yet.
1. Chapter 1: Arrival in Quantico

Summary: Danny Phantom/NCIS crossover. Jack and Maddie Fenton are asked to install ghost shields on military bases in Virginia and Maryland. While staying on a Marine Corps base, Danny witnesses a bizarre crime. NCIS is called in to investigate and they discover their strangest case yet.

A/N: This story takes place shortly after the _Danny Phantom_ episode "Reality Trip," towards the end of the second season. In the _NCIS_ time-line, it can fit in at any point before Gibbs' coma and subsequent temporary retirement to Mexico.

Murder Most Spectral

Disclaimer: _Danny Phantom_ is the property of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. _NCIS_ is the property of Donald P. Bellisario and CBS. This story and all original characters are mine.

Chapter 1: Arrival in Quantico

About a week after Danny destroyed the Reality Gauntlet, life was getting back to what passed for normal in the Fenton household. Only his friends Sam and Tucker and his sister Jazz knew his secret. Knowing that his parents would love him even if they knew he was a half-ghost was comforting. But fighting ghosts was hard enough without those ghosts hurting his parents to get to him.

Danny woke that morning at 3:00, thanks to a visit from the ghost dog Cujo. The green mastiff had decided he wanted to play and dug his way out of the Ghost Zone. By the time the giant dog had gotten tired of playing fetch, it was almost time for Danny to get up, anyway. Needless to say, Danny was exhausted.

Complaining later to Sam and Tucker over lunch at the Nasty Burger, Danny said, "I know he likes to play fetch, but I can't keep it up for 2 or 3 hours every time Cujo gets bored and digs his way into the Real World."

Sam munched on a fry. "Look, Danny, if you don't keep Cujo busy, he'll terrorize the town."

"Besides," Tucker put in, "this is all part of having a pet. You have to play with them, even if they tire you out doing it." He took a large bite of his burger.

Danny glared at the other boy. "_You_ try entertaining a 10 foot high mastiff at three in the morning."

Tucker, thankfully, kept his mouth shut for the rest of the meal. Sam spent that time trying to soothe Danny by reminding him of the damage Cujo caused if left to his own devices. It sort of helped to know that his exhaustion was serving a purpose. At least, until the Box Ghost decided to visit.

All in all, it was a normal day in Amity Park. That was, until he got home for dinner. His parents, Jack and Maddie Fenton, were very excited. Somehow, his mother had restrained his father enough to get him to _not_ blab their news until after dinner. Jazz didn't even know yet, which surprised Danny. Jack's exuberance was not conducive to keeping secrets.

As soon as dinner was over, Danny asked, "So what's the big news?"

Jack opened his mouth, but Maddie put a hand on his arm. "Let me, sweetie." She turned to her children. "We got a phone call from the Pentagon, today. They want us to install anti-ghost security systems in several key military installations. We're heading down to Washington in two days and we'll be gone the rest of the summer."

Jack's dam finally burst. "And you two are coming with us! We'll be staying on base at each place that gets a ghost shield generator, too!

Danny and Jazz looked at each other. A whole summer with their parents, talking about nothing but fighting ghosts? They were doomed.

* * *

It was a beautiful day in late July as Danny Fenton walked down the street of the Marine Corps base in Quantico. His parents were busy with the installation of the ghost shield generator. Jazz was reading a book back at the house the base had provided for them. Danny decided to explore the base. How often would he be able to see a military base, after all? He missed Sam and Tucker, but this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Today, Danny found himself on the main drag, where all the stores were. The base was a self-contained community, with its own stores and businesses. Danny decided to check out a small local souvenir shop that looked interesting, models of aircraft carriers and battleships decorating the window. The store looked pretty empty, and the owner seemed a little bored with no customers coming in.

Danny entered and began looking the place over. The merchandise wasn't very exciting, most of it looking exactly like what you'd find in any souvenir shop on any major interstate highway. He was behind the first row of shelves when his ghost sense went off, just before Danny heard the door opening. Peeking around the end of the aisle, he saw a man enter the store dressed in fatigues, a billed hat shading his face. The man was completely alone.

The man walked up to the store owner. "Corporal MacLean."

The store owner looked up from the book he was reading. "Retired, Sergeant." Then, he saw the face of the younger man. "Bobby! When did your tour end?"

"Just got back four days ago. I'm so sorry about Evan."

"I know. I wish you could have been here for the funeral." The store owner sighed.

'Poor guy,' Danny thought. 'I wonder where in the world they were at the time.'

The sergeant relaxed his shoulders, more at ease. "So do I. The company held a memorial service the day we sent him home." There was a silence between them for a minute. Then, Bobby got an odd look on his face. "Listen, there's a favor I need from you."

"What is it?"

"I heard about the new security system they're installing."

Danny perked up. Bobby was asking about the ghost shield.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Some of my buddies in the offices are worried about how this will affect their jobs. You know, how things will be run. They weren't told much."

Danny shook his head. That didn't sound right. As tight as security might be on a military base, Danny was pretty sure they didn't have ghost detail on their duty roster. But Bobby said he didn't know much about it. Still...

"Bobby, the civilians on the base are told even less, and I didn't have the clearance to learn a heck of a lot about base security, even when I was on active duty. Your CO would have access to more information."

"CO didn't tell us much more than what my friends were told. I thought you might still have pull with the officers you served with. Maybe enough to call in a favor for an old friend of your son's."

Danny felt even less at ease. This guy was asking for information he had no right to. The way Vlad might. Danny paid far closer attention to this conversation.

"I don't have that kind of pull. Not enough to get what you want. Maybe enough to find out something before it's released to the public, but not military intelligence." The store owner became suspicious. "Why would you need to know classified information? You moonlighting for the CIA or something?"

"Something." Bobby casually and soundlessly rested a hand on his gun holster. "Mr. MacLean, I need you to help me out here."

"You know you can't circumvent the chain of command. Whatever you're up to must be pretty serious to warrant going over the heads of every officer in your entire company." Bobby said nothing, and the older man suddenly realized something. "You _need_ to go over your officers' heads. Whatever you're doing, you don't want an official paper trail."

Before the store owner could connect all the dots, the Marine pulled his weapon from its holster. Stunned at the store owner's conclusion and the sight of the drawn weapon, Danny's eyes flew wide open. Backing out of sight, he accidentally bumped into a large mug on a shelf next to him. "Oh, crud," he muttered. Both men turned at the sound of ceramic shattering and Danny quickly ducked back into the aisle.

The younger man didn't seem to be aware that they had been overheard, but Danny heard merchandise at the front of the store hitting the floor. Somewhere, in all the noise of many things breaking, there was the sound of what Danny thought was a can hitting the floor. Then, the heavy case the teen was hiding behind slowly toppled over. The merchandise fell off the shelves, hitting Danny before crashing to the floor.

Danny tried to get out of the way, but he tripped on something and fell. The heavy case fell over on top of him, a shelf hitting his head. He tried to get up, but the blow to the head had disoriented him and he gave up. Danny closed his eyes at the bright light reaching him under the case and he knew no more.


	2. Chapter 2: A Witness

A/N: Thank you to all those who have read the first chapter. I offer cyber-cookies of the type of your choice to those who reviewed, now numbering thirteen! A big thanks goes to the readers who have put me on their favorite and/or alert lists. I would like to thank AnneriaWings for correcting me on the fact that Quantico is a Marine Corps base, not naval. It has been corrected.

I once again thank my two betas BatYisrael and Miriam1 for helping me out in my numerous grammatical errors and other corrections.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Danny Phantom_, _NCIS_, _Ghostbusters_, or _The Simpsons_.

Chapter 2: A Witness

Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo was reading a magazine at his desk. He looked over at Special Agent Timothy McGee to see him typing away at his computer, doing some techno-geek thing. Across the aisle from Tony, Mossad Liaison Officer Ziva David was reading her e-mail. All in all, it was a typically quiet case-free day at NCIS. Also as usual, their boss, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, was off who-knew-where, doing who-knew-what.

At that moment, Gibbs came in from the elevator with a case file. "Dead store owner at Quantico. A retired Marine. McGee, go tell Ducky. Tony, Ziva, with me." There was a two second pause, and then, "Let's go." Everyone immediately grabbed their already-packed gear, Ziva and Tony following Gibbs to the elevator and McGee rushing to Autopsy.

* * *

Ziva knelt on the floor of the souvenir shop to put some of the scattered pottery shards into an evidence bag for Abby Sciuto, the forensics specialist, to analyze. McGee was doing the same at the front counter, where Dr. Donald Mallard was doing a preliminary examination of the dead body with the assistance of Jimmy Palmer. Tony took photos of the crime scene with almost childlike abandon. (Thankfully, Ziva had convinced her colleague to stop taking photos of _her_ while she was collecting evidence. A blithe reminder that she knew 12 ways to kill him with a plastic ruler was effective at dampening his enthusiasm.)

The Mossad agent now noticed that the case she was kneeling next to was too high off the floor for it to be only leaning on the fallen merchandise. Going towards the top end of the case to find out why, she heard a loud groan coming from underneath it. She looked to the front of the store and yelled, "Tony, McGee, come over here!"

McGee quickly joined her and asked, "What is it, Ziva?"

"I heard a groan. There is someone under this case."

The two agents carefully lifted the top of the heavy case. A small teenage boy was lying on the ground, dark hair hanging in his face. The boy stirred, groaning again. He pushed himself up on his elbows and looked up at the straining agents, blinking a bit in the bright light. He shook his head slightly before dragging himself out; Tony arrived just in time to help the boy stand up. Once he was clear of it, Ziva and McGee carefully lowered the case back onto the floor.

As the boy put a hand on the back of his head, where the display case had apparently hit him, Tony took charge of the situation. "So what's your name?"

The teen looked up nervously. "Danny Fenton. Who are you?"

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS. These are Special Agent McGee and Officer David." All three agents showed their badges.

Danny looked worried. "What happened?"

Ziva cut into the conversation. "We were hoping you could tell us. The store owner was murdered."

Danny turned to the front to see the two men kneeling by the body, which was lying in a pool of blood. The older was giving instruction to the younger while simultaneously talking to a middle-aged man with a military air and haircut standing nearby.

McGee followed the boy's gaze and muttered, "We're gonna be in trouble for not telling him sooner." He called out, "Boss, we got a witness!"

Gibbs turned from the body, which was being zipped into a body bag. "Well, this is a surprise. Ducky." He motioned to the older man, who was putting equipment away.

Dr. Mallard slowly stood up. "Of course, Jethro. Mr. Palmer, get our retired Marine back to the lab." The assistant nodded and began to move the body onto a gurney to get it into the van.

McGee convinced Danny to sit on a stool that he got from behind the counter. While he didn't seem hurt, Tim knew that the injuries weren't always obvious. Gibbs and Ducky soon joined them by the fallen display case. "Boss, this is Danny Fenton. We found him buried under the display case. Danny, these are Special Agent Gibbs and Dr. Mallard."

The Medical Examiner smiled warmly at the teen. "Call me Ducky. Everyone does." Danny wore a bemused look as the doctor pulled on fresh gloves and examined the back of the boy's head for injury. Dr. Mallard was very surprised at what he found in his examination. As he shut off the penlight he'd been shining in Danny's eyes, Ducky announced, "I don't see anything to indicate any kind of head trauma. As far as I can tell, dear boy, you are in excellent health." The whole team stared at Ducky in shock. The doctor ignored them and checked Danny's arms and face, only to be even more intrigued. "Not even a bruise anywhere. From the size of the display case and the weight of the merchandise, I would expect at least a few cuts and bruises." He leveled a shrewd gaze at Danny.

Danny suddenly refused to meet anyone's eyes. He knew _exactly_ why he wasn't injured. He couldn't tell them, of course. That was out of the question.

Gibbs studied the dark-haired teen carefully. He was obviously hiding something from them. But first things first: finding out what the boy knew about the murder took priority. "So what did you see before the case buried you?"

Danny looked up at the grey-haired agent. "I was checking out the store when I heard the door open. I looked around the case and saw this guy in a uniform walk in and go up to the store owner. The guy talked to him for a few minutes, mostly about the store owner's son. I guess he died not long ago. Then, the guy asked about the new security system on the base.

"The store owner made a big deal about how he couldn't tell him much about it. He said something about not having the clearance to get the information. He seemed to think the guy was doing something he shouldn't be doing. The guy pulled a gun on him. I tried to escape the guy's notice and I accidentally hit a mug at that point. I don't know if he saw me. All I know is, I heard all this stuff breaking all over the place. Then I heard a noise like a can hitting the floor and the case toppled over on top of me."

Gibbs started to pace, considering the teen's story. The other agents were more interested in learning more about the last part of Danny's story. "From the broken pottery, it looks like a lot of it flew off the shelves." Tony noted. "Probably a lot like in _Ghostbusters_."

Before Danny could respond, McGee groaned in annoyance. "Tony, that's completely ridiculous. Stuff doesn't just fly off the shelves! Besides, telekinesis isn't real."

Tony grinned. "I notice you didn't say _ghosts_ weren't real, Tim."

Gibbs suddenly returned to their conversation. "That's because the Pentagon has brought in paranormal experts to install a ghost shield generator on the base. You can't claim that ghosts aren't real when the government is paying to secure government property against them." He now turned to look at Danny. "Now, where are your parents, Danny?"

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "My parents are the ghost experts installing the ghost shield generator on the base. Mom said they'd be back for lunch. My sister Jazz is back at the house we've been assigned while we're here."

Gibbs nodded. "Ziva, finish up here and get the evidence to Abby. McGee, get the security tapes, find out what happened after the kid was knocked out. DiNozzo, you and I are taking Danny home."

There was a chorus of "Yes, Boss" from the men and a "Yes, Gibbs" from Ziva. As Ziva pulled out equipment to dust for fingerprints, McGee went into the back of the store to find the recording equipment for the store's security system.

Gibbs led Tony and Danny out to the car. Tony held out his hand for the keys, but Gibbs got into the driver's seat without looking at the junior agent. "Right, Boss." Tony climbed into the passenger seat while Danny got into the back, amused at the team dynamics of these agents.

* * *

Jazz Fenton was reading in the living room of the house her family was staying in. She looked up at the clock when she heard a car pull to a stop outside. Her parents would be here any time now, but the car was driven too normally to be her father. The sound of three car doors closing got her attention. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

Jazz ran to get it. She was surprised to see her brother flanked by two men. The younger looked to be in his thirties with brown hair and a mischievous look about him. The older was in his fifties, with gray hair in a buzz cut grown out. Jazz asked, "Can I help you?"

The older man pulled a leather ID wallet from his coat pocket and flipped it open to show to her. "I'm Special Agent Gibbs, this is Special Agent DiNozzo." He indicated the younger man, who also showed his ID. "We're from NCIS. We'd like to speak to your parents."

Jazz looked at the IDs carefully. Both men looked serious. "Mom and Dad should be home soon." She looked at Danny, who had been silent up to now. "Where have you been? You've been gone all morning."

Danny looked at the two agents, then back at his sister. "I was exploring in town."

Agent Gibbs interrupted. "We'll discuss that with your parents, Miss Fenton."

Jazz nodded and stepped aside to let everyone in. "Come in. Do you want something to drink while we wait? Maybe some coffee?"

Gibbs nodded. "Coffee would be good."

Agent DiNozzo enthusiastically agreed. "I'd love some coffee."

* * *

The two teens had been making smalltalk with the agents for about twenty minutes when all four heard the sound of a large vehicle careening wildly down the street. Gibbs' eyes widened in alarm at the sound of the obviously massive vehicle driving on both street and sidewalk without regard for potential pedestrians. "DiNozzo, come with me." He reached for his gun as he stood to go outside. Tony stood up to follow him.

Danny stood up hurriedly and told him, "There's no need for that, sir. That's just Dad driving." Gibbs turned a disbelieving stare on the boy as Danny looked down, sheepishly, at his shoes. Then, the agent looked at Jazz. Surely her brother wasn't serious?

Jazz nodded, an embarrassed expression on her face. "That's Dad. He always drives that way. People back home have learned to move quickly when they see the RV coming."

A loud voice boomed from outside within seconds of the vehicle stopping. "There's a car in front, Maddie. Who's bothering our kids?"

A quieter voice spoke nearer the door. "I don't know, Jack. Let's go inside and see."

The door opened and two severely mismatched people walked in, both in hazmat suits. The woman, a redhead like her daughter, was a slight woman about five foot six and wore a blue jumpsuit. The large man behind her, dark-haired like his son, was six foot five, broad-shouldered, and wore an orange jumpsuit.

Gibbs walked over to them, pulling out his badge. "Mr. and Mrs. Fenton? I'm Agent Gibbs from NCIS, this is Agent DiNozzo. We're here about your son, Danny."

Jack quickly rounded on the small teen. "What did you do, Danny?" His expression was hard and Danny backed away from his father, a little nervous at the sight of his furious father. It was obviously an unusual sight.

Maddie put her hands on her hips and glared at her husband. "Jack! This is our _son_!"

"Right, Maddie." Jack shook himself slightly then, in a complete turnaround, turned his anger on the two government agents. "What do you want with my son?"

Tony seemed to shrink into himself in an effort to escape Jack Fenton's ire on his son's behalf. Gibbs forced himself to look the big man square in the eye. He understood the other man's anger, having been a father himself once. "We need to question Danny in connection to a murder on the base. He's our only witness to what happened."

To both children's relief, Jack and Maddie relaxed their battle-ready stances. They each grabbed extra chairs and sat down, Maddie gesturing to the two agents to resume their seats. The teens sat down as well. Gibbs sat back on the couch, indicating to Tony to do likewise. The younger man glanced at Jack and reluctantly obeyed.

As Gibbs picked up his nearly empty coffee mug, Maddie started. "So, what is it you wanted to ask Danny?"

Carefully, Gibbs answered, "Well, he told us a brief story about what happened. I'd like to know as many details as your son can remember. If he got a good look at the man he saw, I'd like to sit him down with a sketch artist."

Maddie refilled his cup and nodded. "All right. When should we bring him in?"

Gibbs considered as he took a sip of his coffee. "How about this afternoon? Say, four."

"That won't be a problem." Maddie agreed.

Tony decided they ought to get to know Danny's family. "So, Mr. Fenton, what are you working on today?"

Jack's face lit up. "Right now, we're working out the ghost shield parameters and where to put the ghost shield generator. The bigger it is, the more energy output we need to figure for. And, of course, its location determines the height of the dome. We also need to factor in the size of the buildings the shield will protect..." And Jack blithely continued to blather on, oblivious to the fact that his audience's eyes had begun to glaze over.

Maddie touched Gibbs on the shoulder, jolting the techno-phobic agent out of his jargon-induced daze. He turned to see the pained look on the redhead's face at her husband's rambling. She commented, "I'm terribly sorry about that. Jack tends to do this when he gets caught up in things like hunting ghosts."

Gibbs glanced at Tony, to find that the younger agent's attempt to appear interested had caused him to completely zone out. Since Tony was out of commission for the moment, Gibbs turned back to Maddie. "So this happens a lot?"

Danny and Jazz wore resigned expressions. Jazz said, "Yeah. Dad's obsessed and proud of it. And he thinks everyone cares about ghosts as much as he does."

Maddie noted that Jack was starting to wind down, then commented, "Jack means well. He's just passionate about what we do. So much so, he sometimes forgets that we're among a small number of ghost hunters. Just about everyone else either doesn't believe or doesn't think much about it."

The mention of ghost hunters had resulted in a change in Danny's expression that Gibbs had difficulty interpreting. He decided to pursue this. "What do you kids think about what your parents do?"

Jazz spoke for both of them. "It's great that they're doing something they love. But sometimes, we wish they wouldn't be so enthusiastic about it." A look passed between the brother and sister.

Jack broke in without warning. "You kids love it as much as we do. Ghost fighting is in your blood."

Tony started out of his catatonic stare, the lecture on ghost shield technology having gone completely over his head. Suddenly realizing that he had lost track of the conversation, he looked at Gibbs. His boss nodded at the two teens, who looked distinctly uncomfortable.

Maddie suddenly thought of something. "You know, Agent Gibbs, something strange happened today while we were working. It's probably irrelevant."

Gibbs told her, "We'll be the judge of that. What is it?"

Maddie rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "The ghost indicators picked up two ghosts in the area. I didn't think it was possible here, but there's a reason we were brought in."

Tony was puzzled by Danny's reaction. Danny's expression changed rapidly from amused to bemused to a wince reminiscent of Homer Simpson saying, "D'oh!"

On the other hand, Jazz looked sympathetically at her brother. What was going on here? Tony decided to say something to Gibbs later.

At that moment, Gibbs asked, "So, what do ghosts usually want from humans?"

Both agents were startled when Jack started to speak and Jazz spoke over him. "It really depends on the ghosts, but most of those that come here have some sort of obsession that they can only fulfill in the Real World. The longer they stay, the greater opportunity they have to feed the obsession."

Tony was impressed. He would never want to interrupt Jack Fenton. Jazz was very brave to cut off her father like that. And Jack wasn't bothered that his daughter had done it. In fact, he seemed _proud_ of her for the psychological analysis, if a bit confused. At least it was concise. There was only so much psychological mumbo-jumbo Tony could take.

Then he realized why Jazz cut her father off: as she was speaking, her nervous-looking brother relaxed visibly the longer she spoke. What was going on? Obviously, his sister knew something about the cause for Danny's mood swing.

Gibbs glanced at his watch. "It's 1:00. Sorry for disrupting your lunch break. Tony, let's get back." Tony nodded and stood up, and Gibbs turned back to the Fentons. "Should we come pick you up, or can you find our offices on your own?"

Danny prayed to have the agents come personally, but his heart sank when his father insisted, "I can find it just fine." Danny covered his face and groaned.

Gibbs noticed Danny's reaction and recalled the sound of Jack's driving. "I'll send someone out to pick you up. I'd hate for you to get lost trying to find our offices." Danny looked visibly relieved once again.


	3. Chapter 3: Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

A/N: Thanks to all who read, reviewed, and put this fic on their lists. The chapter title was suggested by my beta, Miriam1. I was reading an early draft of the fic to her and as a transition said, "Meanwhile, back at the ranch..." And she said it would be a good title for the chapter. So I used it when I typed it up.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Danny Phantom_, _NCIS_, or _Witness_.

Chapter 3: Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch...

Timothy McGee sat at his desk, collecting information on the dead store owner. Gibbs would be expecting to be fully briefed on his return. Hopefully, the older agent would be pleased with his research. Marine records were thorough, and Tim had found lots to report.

Ziva was at her own desk, working on collecting information on the store owner's financial records, both personal and business-related, as well as phone records. Noting the time, she asked McGee, "When do you think Gibbs and Tony will return?"

Looking up from his screen, McGee answered, "Should be here any time, now."

At that moment, Gibbs and Tony walked in. "All right, McGee, what do you got?" Gibbs dumped his bag at his desk and turned to face the junior agent expectantly. Tony dropped into his seat and waited.

McGee hit a command and got up, grabbing the remote for the projection screen. "I've been pulling together info on our vic." He clicked the remote and a service record with a black and white photograph of a Marine came up beside a more recent photo of the same man. "His name is Corporal David MacLean, age 55. He enlisted in 1966, as soon as he turned 18, served in Vietnam for 7 years, then got transferred stateside, working in Quantico. He received an honorable discharge in 1976." Here, he clicked the remote again to bring up a college transcript. "He went to college at Gibbs College in Vienna, Virginia on the GI Bill."

Tony laughed. "Gibbs College? Didn't know you were that famous, Boss."

Gibbs gave him a Look and Tony immediately sobered.

McGee clicked the remote again to show the deed for the store and continued, "Corporal MacLean has been running the store on-base since 1981." Another click brought up a marriage license. "He married his wife Alicia in 1979." A birth certificate popped up, as well as a service record. "They had one son, Evan, a Lance Corporal in the Marines. Evan enlisted after 9/11." A death certificate joined the other documents. "He died over in Iraq six months ago."

Gibbs nodded. "This son have any friends who were close to the family?"

McGee nodded and clicked the remote again. "Sergeant Robert Darvin." A third service record appeared. "He and Lance Corporal MacLean served together until Evan's death. Darvin visited the MacLeans frequently while on leave. Darvin just returned from his latest tour." He held out two sheets of paper. "Current addresses for both Darvin and MacLean. Darvin lives off base."

"Good work, Tim. Ziva?" Gibbs turned to the Mossad officer.

"I have looked over Corporal MacLean's financial records. There is nothing unusual in any purchases, withdrawals, or deposits for his personal accounts or the business. The store is doing well." Ziva's fallen face showed her disappointment at the lack of a real lead.

Gibbs nodded. "Tony, Ziva, go talk to Mrs. MacLean. McGee, look at the security tapes from the store." As the other agents jumped to do as he'd instructed, Gibbs headed to the elevator to speak to the rest of his team.

* * *

Ducky and Palmer were standing over the body on the table, still in their scrubs. The autopsy was complete, the body closed up for burial. As the two cleaned up their tools, Ducky noted, "You know, the idea of this man's murder occurring in front of a child reminds me of an interesting story."

Palmer was used to Ducky's tangents and asked, "A case you worked on before?"

Ducky smiled. "This time, no. No, the story is the plot line of a movie a little over 20 years old. _Witness_, starring Harrison Ford." The two doctors pulled off their scrubs. "A young Amish boy witnessed a murder and refused to talk. The child was too traumatized and was unwilling, and possibly unable, to describe what he had seen. Once the attending officer was able to gain the child's trust, then and only then were they able to get the child to talk. Now, I wonder what sort of child young Mr. Fenton happens to be."

Palmer was silent, having noticed Gibbs standing just inside the door to listen to his ME prattle on. Ducky turned to see him, then dumped his scrubs in the laundry. "Well, I'm sure Anthony would have appreciated my last analysis." He turned back to Gibbs, who had come further in the room. "Jethro, we've just completed the autopsy. Excellent timing, as usual."

"What did you find?" Gibbs studied the dead man's face a moment, then looked back up at Ducky.

Realizing that his presence would only annoy the senior agent, Palmer busied himself somewhere out of Gibbs' way. Ducky joined Gibbs at the autopsy table. "Our retired Marine most definitely died of the gunshot wound." Ducky pointed at the hole in the man's chest. "A single bullet to the chest. It struck him in the heart. I've sent the bullet to Abigail for analysis." He turned his sharp gaze on the younger man. "There's one anomaly, however."

"What is it, Ducky?"

"Merchandise in that store was thrown violently from every shelf. Some of it _should_ have hit him at some point. But there is no sign of blunt force trauma anywhere. Like young Daniel, it's like he was never even touched."

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully. "Thanks, Duck." He turned on his heel and walked out.

Ducky looked down at the body. "But Daniel _was _hit without any mark. On the other hand, Corporal, I'm not so certain about you."

* * *

Forensics Specialist Abby Sciuto stood at her main computer, her favorite heavy metal album blaring loudly through her forensics lab. She was just turning away as the drum solo started, when she saw Gibbs standing in the doorway. "Gibbs!"

She quickly shut off her music as Gibbs walked over and put a 32 oz. cup of CafPow on her table. "Thanks, Gibbs." She snatched up the drink and took a sip, reveling in the rush of caffeine.

Gibbs gave her a moment, then asked, "So what do you got, Abs?"

Abby turned back to him, her pigtails swinging with the motion. "There were two separate sets of fingerprints inside the store." She led Gibbs to the main computer, hit a few commands, then clicked the mouse. "The first was all over the place, which makes sense because they belong to the store owner." Another click showed another set. "The second set was only in the front of the store, which I haven't identified yet. They don't match anyone in Marine or Navy files. I've got the system checking civilian records. Nothing so far."

Gibbs cut in. "They belong to a teenager named Danny Fenton. We found him at the scene. Sole witness."

Abby began to tear up. "Oh. Poor kid. That must have been awful!"

"Abby!"

She snapped her focus back to business. "Right, Gibbs. I found a third set, but only on the doorknob." She clicked again, to display the photo of a 25-year-old Marine. "Sergeant Robert Darvin."

"A close friend of the MacLeans'," Gibbs supplied.

Abby glared for a moment. How does Gibbs _do_ that? He seems to be omniscient! She shook herself out of the mood, and said, "Anyway, I also analyzed the bullet Ducky sent up. No fingerprints, but I _did_ identify the type. It's a 9 mm Parabellum. The problem is that it comes from a Baretta M9 Pistol. There are 82,000 of these babies currently in use. If you get me one, I can tell you if it was the murder weapon, but you've got a lot to choose from."

Gibbs nodded. "Good work, Abby."

Abby smiled and turned her music back on as Gibbs left.

* * *

Back upstairs, McGee was busy on his computer, fiddling with settings to improve video quality of the security tapes. Tony and Ziva met Gibbs at the elevator, having just returned from interviewing the widow. "What did you find out?" Gibbs asked before they could put their bags down. McGee looked up from what he was doing to listen.

Tony headed to his desk to put his bag down. "Mrs. MacLean was very forthcoming. She has no idea who would want to kill her husband. Sgt. Darvin is a frequent visitor when he's home, but she didn't know he was back from Iraq yet."

Ziva sat at her own desk. "She and her husband took their son's death hard. Mrs. MacLean describes both husband and son as good soldiers and patriotic men."

Gibbs nodded. "Get up, Tony. We're going to talk to Sgt. Darvin. Ziva, I need you to go pick up the Fentons at 4:00."

Tony paled. "You sure you want to subject them to Ziva's driving?" Ziva glared at him.

Gibbs walked up and slapped Tony on the back of the head. "You remember what Mr. Fenton's driving sounded like?" Tony nodded as he rubbed the back of his head. "I think they'll be okay with Ziva's driving."


	4. Chapter 4: Things Revealed

A/N: Thank you to everyone for reading, reviewing, and adding this story to your lists. I give to everyone chocolate hamentashen and a mug of hot chocolate.

I am grateful for all of the help I received on this chapter from my beta Miriam1. She is my muse and I can always count on her to tell me when my ideas need serious work.

Also, one of my unsigned reviewers asked if Corporal MacLean had anything to do with the ghost Ember McLain. I can assure you that he doesn't have anything to do with the ghostly diva. The surname I chose was inspired by the author Archibald MacLeish, who wrote the play _J_._B_.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Danny Phantom_, _NCIS_, _Ghostbusters_, the Book of Daniel, or _Nightmare on Elm Street_. The _Dead Teacher_ series and _Trinity of Doom_ also do not belong to me, as they were invented by Butch Hartman.

Chapter 4: Things Revealed

Gibbs and Tony pulled up in front of Sgt. Darvin's house. It was well kept and the lawn was neat. They walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. It was several minutes before the door opened to reveal the sergeant, wearing fatigues, with a nasty black eye marring his face. Gibbs raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Can I help you?" Darvin seemed puzzled.

Gibbs and Tony pulled out their badges. Gibbs announced, "Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo, NCIS. We'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Of course." Darvin opened the door wider to let the agents in. "What's this about?"

Gibbs entered, followed by Tony. "You know David MacLean?"

"Yes." Darvin led them through the narrow foyer into the living room, and they all took seats. The two agents took the three-seater sofa in front of a coffee table, Darvin sat in the armchair to one side of the coffee table. "Why?"

"He's dead, Sergeant. Shot this morning."

There was a slight tightening around the eyes before Darvin became visibly distraught. "Oh no. His wife must be devastated, especially after Evan."

Gibbs was curious about this, so he asked, "How did the lance corporal die?"

Darvin shifted his shoulders a bit stiffly. "About six months ago, Evan was ordered to make the delivery for our regular communications with another unit. A sniper got him before he made it there." He shook his head sadly.

"All communication between units is confidential, Sergeant. How would the insurgents know anything about it?" Gibbs was suspicious.

Tony caught a gleam in the Marine's eye as he answered. "I don't know, Agent Gibbs. The captain was quite thorough in his investigation and found nothing." A smirk crossed his face so quickly, neither agent was sure he saw it. Then, Darvin winced a bit and touched the black eye.

Gibbs asked, "That's quite the shiner, Sergeant. How'd you get it?"

Darvin started. "Oh. I went to a bar after lunch." He got an embarrassed look on his face. "I got into a fight with a guy who had a few too many. He got a few lucky punches in."

Gibbs nodded. "Alright, Sergeant Darvin. I'll need the name of the bar and the name of the medical officer who checked you out." He tossed a notepad on the coffee table.

"Of course. Is there anything else you need to know?" Darvin leaned over the table to write.

"Actually, yes. Did you visit Corporal MacLean at his store today?"

The sergeant frowned as he looked up from the notepad. "I stopped by briefly this morning, but he was just opening up for the day, and he had a lot to do." He handed the notepad back to Gibbs.

"Thank you, Sergeant. I'll let you know if we have any more questions." The two agents shook hands with Darvin and they headed out.

* * *

Ziva pulled up in front of the standard military house. The only thing non-military about its exterior was the massive, steel-encased RV with a green swirl circling an F on the side. The vehicle in question was parked in the driveway, and easily the largest on the street.

Ziva walked to the door and knocked. The door was answered by a large man in an international orange jumpsuit. She had no time to introduce herself before he pulled out a strange-looking gun with the same logo on it as that on the RV.

"Ghost!" The gun powered up as the man shoved the weapon in her face.

Ziva's reaction was immediate. She pulled her own weapon, cocked it, and had it aimed at the large man before he could fire. "Who are you?" the Mossad officer spat and studied him carefully, watching for the first sign that he was about to fire.

"Jack, who is it?" A woman in a blue jumpsuit completely covering her from head to toe, including red-lensed goggles, walked into Ziva's line of vision. "Jack, put the ectogun away." She turned to Ziva. "You're from NCIS, aren't you?" Jack reluctantly lowered his weapon, a disappointed look on his face.

Ziva lowered hers as well. "Yes. I am Officer David." She uncocked the gun and put it away before pulling out her identification to show the Fenton parents. "Agent Gibbs sent me to bring Danny to our offices."

The woman nodded. "Well, I'm Maddie Fenton. I'm terribly sorry about Jack. He tends to be a bit overeager to use anti-ghost weaponry. I'll get Danny." She left to get her son.

Jack put his gun away. "So sorry, Officer David. You have to understand: ghosts coming to our door is really nothing new. A few months ago, when Maddie and Danny were invited to a Mother/Son Science Symposium in Florida, a simple knock on the door led to a whole host of unfriendly ghosts set on the death and destruction of me and my little princess." He indicated a red-haired teenaged girl sitting on the living room couch, reading a large book on psychology. "You never can tell where ghosts will show up. At my 20th year college reunion, a vicious ghost we only know as 'the Wisconsin Ghost' attacked me, possessed me, and tried to kidnap my wife. And here, my son was present at the scene of a murder. Who's to say that a ghost isn't coming to harm me, my family, and particularly my son Danny?"

Ziva was impressed. Ghost-obsession aside, Jack was _very_ protective of his family. And even without any kind of military training, Jack's reflexes were superb. No sooner did he realize that he didn't know the woman standing in his doorway, then he had pulled a weapon and was ready to defend his family from the perceived threat.

A thorough search on Jack and Maddie Fenton before she left to pick them up had revealed a lot on the couple. Neither had had a military background, but Maddie was a 9th degree black belt. They had joined their Neighborhood Watch, Amity Park mayor Ernesto Montez had deputized them during a major ghost invasion of the town last year, and they were extraordinary inventors with many patents for anti-ghost devices to their name. Ziva glanced at the piles of boxes sitting in one corner. "It looks like you have a lot of weapons with which to defend your family."

A boyish grin appeared on Jack's face. "I've got lots of inventions to deal with ghosts, you know. Want to see one?"

Ziva was a bit leery of that. "I do not think..."

Jack didn't even hear her. He darted over to a pile of boxes and pulled out a large metal boomerang. The girl on the couch, who had said nothing up to this point, looked up from her book. "I don't think that's a good idea, Dad. As far as you know, it doesn't even work." Ziva was curious about the way she phrased that.

Jack's shoulders slumped. "You're right, Jazz." He put the boomerang back on the pile.

Maddie returned with Danny at that point. Danny studied Ziva cautiously before approaching. "Officer David, it's nice to see you again."

Ziva wasn't sure why Danny hesitated before greeting her, but she nodded to him. "It is good to see you, also. Shall we go?"

Maddie turned to her husband. "Jack, I'll call when we're on our way home."

"Sure thing, Maddie." Jack now turned and pulled a needlepoint pattern out from behind the couch. Ziva wasn't sure, but the green pattern looked like the ghost decorations she saw last Halloween.

Ziva led Maddie and Danny to the car, and her passengers got into the back seat. Pulling away from the curb, Ziva began the drive back to D.C. She remembered Maddie's almost feline grace in her stride and decided to ask. "Mrs. Fenton, I noticed that you are very graceful. I have rarely seen it in anyone except those with a certain confidence in themselves."

Maddie smiled, then winced as Ziva pulled on to I-95 heading to D.C. "Well, I am a 9th degree black belt."

Ziva grinned as she glanced in the rearview mirror. "Really? It is good to meet another strong woman who knows several ways to kill someone with their bare hands."

"Yes. How did you know?" Maddie was interested.

Danny was anxious. "_Another_ one? Mom!" The teen was close to panicking.

"I am an officer of Mossad," Ziva answered. Her passengers grunted as she changed lanes twice in the space of a minute, horns honking around them in protest.

As Maddie righted herself, she commented, "I never thought I'd find anyone else who drives like Jack. Though, very few people _can_ drive the way he does."

Ziva glanced in the rearview mirror at the smaller woman. "You have never driven in Israel, have you?"

"No," Maddie admitted.

Noticing in the corner of the mirror that Danny was curling up into the car door, Ziva decided she needed to get him to relax. "I really like your name, Danny."

Danny shifted back to the middle of his seat. "You do?"

"Yes. 'Daniel' is Hebrew for 'judgement of God.' It is the name of a faithful servant of God."

Danny was interested. "Really?"

Ziva smiled as she glanced in the mirror again. "Yes. He stood for what he believed in the face of overwhelming pressure to cave in. He was an interpreter of dreams, warning Nebuchadnezzar of the fall of his kingdom. Daniel remained true to his beliefs, surviving in the lions' den and escaping unscathed.

"If you are living up to your name, Danny, you must be a hero of the oppressed and a knower of secrets."

Danny blushed. He never knew that a name could reveal so much about a person. She had _no idea_ how close she was to the truth. Danny thought about the description. "He warned the king about the fall of his kingdom?"

Ziva nodded and she suddenly jerked the wheel to turn onto the exit ramp. "Yes. He told the evil king that his kingdom would fall."

Danny remembered Pariah Dark. "Fighting an evil king? I can do that."

Ziva was puzzled. "Fighting evil is important to you, yes?"

Danny shrugged. "Well, yeah..."

Ziva thought about this. "You are fifteen. It is unusual for someone your age to think of rescuing people from evil."

Danny paused, considering his answer. "Well, you've never seen the ghosts that regularly terrorize people in Amity Park."

Maddie cut in. "Danny, you don't fight ghosts."

Danny stopped again to think how to phrase this. "I've fought ghosts. Remember when those ghosts kidnapped all the adults in town... and Jazz?" Ziva noticed how often Danny was pausing and found it odd.

Maddie remembered the event Danny referred to. "You mean when you used the Ops Center? _Without_ authorization?" She crossed her arms and frowned disapprovingly at her son.

Danny blushed again, but told her, "I also got every kid I knew to help save you guys. And Danny Phantom brought you all to safety!" His tone was defensive.

Ziva wondered about this. "Who is Danny Phantom?"

Maddie scowled. "He's a ghost. He's something of an enigma."

Ziva glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "What do you mean?"

Maddie became thoughtful "Phantom regularly plagues the town of Amity Park. He once almost kidnapped the mayor. He participated in a crime wave associated with Circus Gothica," she spat, turning her nose up as if this circus were something disgusting.

Ziva interrupted her. "What is Circus Gothica?"

Maddie growled, "It was a circus that specialized in performances by evil ghosts posing as human performers. It was a cesspit of immoral behavior. My son and his friends cut school _and_ detention to see it..." Here, Maddie glowered at her son.

Danny was indignant. "Mom!"

Maddie continued, "But they wound up heroes when they stopped the owner from getting away with thousands of dollars in stolen loot." She smiled proudly.

Danny smiled back. "Thanks, Mom." Ziva recognized that Maddie's emotions were as changeable as the weather, much like her husband's, but with more tact.

Getting back on track, Maddie explained, "Anyway, the ringmaster Freakshow... I think his real name is Showenhower... was arrested by Federal Agents involved with recalcitrant ghosts. The organization is the Guys in White." She considered a moment. "I wonder why the GiW weren't asked to help with the ghost shield..." She trailed off. A moment later she said, "I hear the GiW has stuff that mimics the three basic ghost powers: flight, intangibility, and I'm not sure about invisibility. But FentonWorks _is_ cutting edge when it comes to protection against ghosts.

"But back to Danny Phantom... Last Christmas, he nearly ruined the whole holiday by destroying every gift and decoration in town!" Danny cringed. "It came to a head when all the Christmas trees were destroyed." Danny blew a discontented breath, fluttering his bangs. "But he also repaired everything that night."

Danny smirked and said, "Yeah, he did, didn't he?"

"As Danny said, Phantom saved us from the ghosts that tried to kidnap us. And when the town was pulled into another dimension by a massive ghost, Phantom defeated him and brought the town back. It's difficult to classify him, villain or hero." Danny looked hopeful. "In any event, he's a pesky ghost!" Danny slumped.

As Maddie spoke, Ziva noted Danny's reactions. When Maddie talked of this ghost as a hero, her son brightened with pride. When Maddie vilified the ghost, Danny shrank in on himself and looked frustrated.

Ziva pulled into NCIS's parking garage. As they got out, she noticed Danny looking around. He studied the fleet of black vehicles, glancing up at the ceiling and towards the sky outside. Ziva was reminded of the watchfulness of a terror-wary Israeli teen. Why would an American teen from a quiet neighborhood in a small city act like this?

* * *

Gibbs returned from a coffee run to find Abby standing near the elevator hopping from foot to foot in anticipation. In most people, it would look like worry or excitement. In Abby, it was her usual caffeine high. But Abby rarely left her lab. "What are you doing here, Abby?" he asked the Goth.

Abby turned, surprised at hearing Gibbs's voice. "Gibbs! I heard Ziva was picking up Danny and I wanted to meet him." She paused a moment, then asked, "How do you keep sneaking up on me?"

Gibbs smiled inscrutably. "Abby, he's not here yet."

Abby grinned. "I know. I wanted to be here when they arrive." There was a ding and Abby turned to see the elevator light indicated that it was on their floor. "He's here!" She could barely contain her excitement as the doors slid open and Ziva stepped out. Behind the Israeli were a red-haired woman wearing a blue hazmat suit and a dark-haired teen in jeans and a t-shirt. Both wore visitor badges.

Gibbs stepped forward. "Mrs. Fenton, Danny, welcome to NCIS." He turned slightly to indicate the hyper young woman behind him. "This is our forensics specialist, Abby Sciuto."

Danny studied her a moment. 'Wow,' he thought, looking at her black clothes, dark hair, and dark makeup on her otherwise pale face. 'She's like an older version of Sam.' The woman could hardly stand still as she waved cheerily at Danny and his mom. Danny peaked his eyebrows. He corrected himself, 'Only she's as perky as Jazz. Scary combination.'

Abby suddenly dashed forward and hugged Danny tightly. "Oh. That must have been sooo scary. I can't _imagine_ what it must have been like for you to see someone get killed."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Um... Thanks. I didn't actually see anything, though."

Gibbs snapped, "Abby!" The Goth started and let go of Danny sheepishly. "Time to get back to work."

Maddie watched in amusement as Abby left, obviously upset at having to leave.

Agent DiNozzo looked over at the gathering as Abby passed his desk to get to the elevator going down to her lab. Grinning boyishly at Maddie, he said, "Sorry about Abby. She's got a soft spot in her heart for kids." He looked at Danny. "You being the only witness kinda did something to her, even if you didn't _actually_ see anything."

Ziva glared at Tony as she sat at her own desk. "Tony, surely even _you_ realize how traumatic it can be for a child to even _hear_ a murder being committed in their presence."

Tony opened his mouth to respond, but Gibbs cut him off. "That's enough, you two. Get back to work." Tony and Ziva obediently turned to their computers.

Danny watched the byplay between the agents. Officer David's comment left him feeling indignant. 'Hey,' he thought, 'I'm not as innocent as they think I am. Skulker's been trying to kill me since we met. Well... not kill, he's trying to capture me. Killing me is for later.' He mentally rolled his eyes. 'Vlad's trying to kill my dad, make me his son/evil apprentice, and marry Mom (ew!). He's never succeeded, thank goodness.

'Freakshow kidnapped my whole family, and Sam and Tucker's, and tried to kill everybody. I'm just glad I saved everyone, fixed things, and destroyed the Reality Gauntlet. My evil future self...' Danny shuddered. 'I watched everyone I ever loved – and Mr. Lancer – die, but Clockwork saved everyone.

'This time, it was an actual murder. I was there, the murdered guy is going to _stay_ dead... Maybe I'm more innocent than I thought.'

Maddie had tuned the agents out on noticing the person at the fourth occupied desk had said nothing the whole time. She turned to see a young man about the same age as Abby staring intently at something on his screen.

Danny also looked over, curious about what had gotten his mother's attention. It struck Danny how much McGee's posture reminded him of Tucker.

Gibbs was about to leave, when he saw the two visitors staring. "Let's go. The questions might take a while. McGee." The young man jerked his head up, startled. "I'll be in the conference room talking to the Fentons."

"Right, Boss," McGee answered as Gibbs led Danny and Maddie upstairs.

* * *

Danny and Maddie followed Agent Gibbs into a large conference room. He gestured to a pair of seats on one side and seated himself opposite them. He put a folder down on the table and opened it as the two Fentons got comfortable. Danny began to fidget as Gibbs continued to read over the file quietly for a few minutes. Maddie was starting to get nervous also as the silence stretched on. When would the conversation begin? He must be good at getting suspects to talk if this was how he ran interrogations.

Finally, Gibbs began. "Danny, I'd like to start with the uniform of the man you saw. What color was it? What insignia was he wearing?"

Danny thought back to that morning. "Well, it was olive camouflage with a matching hat. The insignia... well, the patch on his sleeve was a pair of rifles crossed, with three gold stripes above it."

Gibbs nodded as he made a note on the paper in front of him and thought, 'So our Marine is a sergeant.' "Now, the conversation you overheard is very important. I need to know everything you remember about it, from the time the man entered to the point where the display case fell on you and rendered you unconscious."

Maddie gasped in shock. Danny was hurt? Danny was unconscious? "Agent Gibbs, Danny was hurt?" She looked at her son. "Why didn't you tell me?" She grabbed Danny's arm to check for injury.

Danny wriggled out of her grasp. "Mooom! I'm okay!"

Gibbs reassured, "He was just coming to when we found him. Our ME checked him out and he didn't even have a bruise. I didn't tell you because there was nothing to tell."

Maddie looked at him distrustfully, but Gibbs turned back to Danny. "Tell me what you remember of the conversation. Even the tiniest detail could be important."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I was right behind the first display case, looking at the merchandise, when the door opened. I looked around the case and saw the guy. His hat was pulled down low enough to block the security camera. He walked up to the store owner and addressed him as 'Corporal MacLean.' The store owner looked up, told the guy he was retired, calling him 'sergeant,' then recognized him. The store owner called him Bobby." Gibbs made a note in the file and looked back up at Danny.

Danny continued. "So, they started catching up. Bobby has just returned from Iraq and was friends with the store owner's son." Once again, Gibbs made a note. "I get the impression that the store owner's son died not long ago and Bobby couldn't make it back for the funeral." Danny looked down sadly for a moment.

Gibbs interrupted the recitation. "What was the son's name?"

"Evan."

Gibbs nodded. "Go on."

"So, Bobby got this weird expression on his face and started asking about the new security system. He said his friends in the offices were worried about how it would affect their work. But I seriously doubt ghost detail has anything to do with this."

Gibbs gave a small smile at that. "No, Danny. It doesn't. But that sort of information is confined to people with a certain security clearance. Anyone who doesn't have it is out of luck."

Maddie noted, "Amity Park established ghost drills at the high school to protect the students. Of course, the whole town is aware of the danger ghosts present."

Danny scowled at this, a hint of embarrassment showing in his eyes.

Gibbs noted the byplay between mother and son. Danny was uncomfortable when his mother mentioned the danger ghosts present. He was okay talking about ghosts, but the ghost drills bothered him. Interesting. "What did MacLean tell him when he asked about the security system?"

Danny was relieved at the return to the original topic of conversation. "That he didn't have the pull to get classified information, even if he _were_ on active duty. Then, he asked if Bobby was moonlighting for the CIA. If he were moonlighting for the CIA, he'd have a reason to know more than he did. But that doesn't make sense! If he were working for the CIA, he'd have clearance, right?"

Gibbs considered the teen's question. "He would have clearance. He'd also have gotten what he needed from his superiors. Anything they don't know, they know who does. A civilian shop owner is never the go-to person.

"How'd Bobby respond?"

"Well, Bobby just rested a hand on his gun and reiterated that he needed the store owner's help." Danny grimaced in distress. "That didn't look right. When Mom and Dad put their hands on their ectoweapons, they're, like, seconds away from using them." Gibbs nodded, but he found it curious that Danny knew enough to recognize what it meant for someone to rest a hand on their weapon. "The store owner recognized that Bobby was doing something he shouldn't. That was when Bobby pulled his gun.

"I was nervous when he pulled the gun and I backed up into the aisle. I knocked a mug off the shelf and the crash drew the attention of both guys. I ducked out of sight, but I'm not sure if they saw me. The next thing I knew, there was stuff crashing on the floor. Somewhere in all of the noise, I heard what I thought was a heavy can hitting the floor. Then _everything_ was falling. I tried to get out of the way, but I tripped and fell. The case I was hiding behind fell over and the shelf hit my head. I was too dizzy to really do much after that and I don't know anything until you guys found me."

Maddie was very worried about her son after hearing the end of his story. It sounded like Danny had been buried under a heavy display case for half the morning. And this was after watching a human threaten another human. Except for Freakshow at Circus Gothica, Danny had never known such violence. Ghosts hurting or threatening humans was expected. Humans doing it wasn't. Her poor baby!

But Gibbs had more questions. "Did you see the sergeant's face?"

Danny didn't need to think. "Yeah, a little of it. He had a square face with a scar on his right cheek. His face was pretty normal otherwise."

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully and pulled out a photo of a young man in his twenties wearing a Marine dress uniform. "This the guy you saw?"

Danny looked at the photo carefully, matching it to his memory of the man he'd seen. "Yeah. That's him."

Gibbs took the photo back and replaced it in his file, then made a final note and closed the folder. "Thanks for your cooperation, Danny. Mrs. Fenton, I'll have one of my agents drive you and your son back to the base. I'll call if we have any more questions."

Maddie stood up and shook Gibbs' hand. "We're happy to help any way we can."

Danny also stood. "I hope it helps you catch the guy."

Gibbs put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "It helped a lot. Come on." He led them back downstairs. All three younger agents were busy on their computers. McGee didn't seem to have changed position since they went up.

Gibbs dumped the slim file he held on his desk very loudly, startling his team out of their work. "McGee, Ziva, go home. Get some sleep; start fresh in the morning." The named agents began to shut down their computers. "Tony, take the Fentons home. Then, you're getting some sleep, too."

"Right, Boss." Agent DiNozzo also shut his computer down. As the rest of the team went home, Tony took Danny and Maddie to the parking garage.

* * *

Tony's driving was very tame compared to Ziva's, but the American still drove like a speed demon. Hoping to learn more about what the Fentons were doing on the base, Tony asked, "So, what are these ghosts like anyway? Slimer or Gozer the Gozerian?"

Danny answered, "Well, all ghosts are different. Some are like Slimer; those are usually mindless ghosts. They're either directed by more powerful ghosts or are just scaring people because it's fun. The more humanoid ghosts differ from ghost to ghost; most of them have harmless obsessions and just want to be left alone. There are a small number with world domination schemes. But the only one that took himself seriously about ruling the world was Pariah Dark. He somehow dragged all of Amity Park into the Ghost Zone."

"What's 'the Ghost Zone'?" Tony wanted to know.

"It's an alternate dimension where ghosts and other spectral entities exist," Maddie answered.

Oh. "I think I heard about that. When a town in the middle of Illinois disappeared and there was _no_ media receptivity till it was over. They almost called in the National Guard. Not that they could do much when the town was completely gone," Tony noted.

Danny smiled grimly. "Then, there was the Ember craze the spring before that..."

Maddie was surprised. "She was a ghost?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah. That's why every kid in town, including Jazz, was going crazy about her."

Tony shrugged. "Abby's more into the modern music scene than I am."

Danny thought a bit. "Well, there was the ghost a few weeks ago that took over a satellite and caused every electronic system all over the world to go haywire."

This was something Tony knew something about, in spite of himself. "Oh yeah. McGee complained about the technical snafus from that for a _week_!"

Danny grinned. "Yeah. My friend Tucker was the same way. He said his PDAs would take a month to work properly again. They were working normally within hours of the satellite being shut down."

Tony laughed. "McGee wasn't _that_ bad, but it was a close thing." He had a thought, and asked, "Say, what's your favorite movie? It's not often I can give a movie reference and not have to explain it."

"There're a bunch I watch, but my favorites are the _Dead Teacher_ series." Danny was animated as he settled into the far more normal topic.

Tony was fascinated. "Really? They _are_ cool, but I prefer _Nightmare on Elm Street_."

"I can understand that," Danny told him. "I took my friend Sam to see _Trinity of Doom_ its opening weekend. It's the ultimate chick flick: Femalien vs. Terminatra vs. Nightmerica."

"Wow!" Tony was impressed. "That is so cool! But it's an odd movie to take your girlfriend to see."

Danny became indignant. "She's not my girlfriend!"

Maddie smiled knowingly. "I know, sweetie."

Tony pulled to a stop at a stoplight and turned to look at Maddie. "Clueless?"

Maddie nodded. "Mmhm." Danny huffed in annoyance.

Tony drove on when the light turned green and decided a change of topic was in order. "Danny, what's it like living in the ghost capital of the US?"

Danny sighed in relief at the deflection from his romantic life. "It's complicated. Every ghost we've dealt with so far seems to center on the high school. And the Guys in White still have Freakshow, right?" He was worried the former circus ringmaster might still want revenge.

Tony considered carefully before answering. "Normally, I'd say that's classified, but you seem to know quite a bit about him."

Danny laughed humorlessly. "Yeah. You could say that."

Tony nodded. "Freakshow's still in firm lockdown. But I can't tell you where."

Danny relaxed into his seat. "I'm glad to hear that." He looked out the window as Tony and Maddie both tried to figure out what to say in response. "Hey, we're here!"

Tony pulled up in front of the house, the massive RV parked in the driveway. Danny and Maddie got out and thanked the agent for the ride before going inside. Tony waited until the front door had closed before turning the car around to head back to D.C.

Danny was a good kid, he decided. Great taste in movies, good sense of humor. He seemed to know a lot about ghosts. Abby would _love_ this kid. Especially if his taste in music was anything like his taste in movies.

What was bugging Tony was Danny's concern for Freakshow. Freakshow was arrested over a year ago. True, the man did some nasty things to the people of Amity Park. But Danny's worry seemed far more personal than grand theft or the attack on the concerned parents of the town. Whatever was up with Danny, Tony decided it had nothing to do with the case.


	5. Chapter 5: More Mysteries

A/N: Once again, a big thanks goes out to all of my readers and reviewers and those of you who put this story (and me) on your assorted lists. I give everyone cheese blintzes with sour cream and a slice of cheese cake of your favorite flavor.

The scene where Gibbs and McGee watch the security tapes was written almost entirely by my friend and beta Miriam1. Thanks to her for all of her help.

Disclaimer: I do not own either _Danny Phantom_ or _NCIS_. I also do not own 'the Phantom,' who is owned by Lee Falk and DC Comics.

Chapter 5: More Mysteries

Tony came into work the following morning to find McGee already hard at work. The younger agent was staring intently at his computer screen. As Tony headed to his own desk, he noticed a bottle of cleaning spray and a roll of paper towels on Tim's desk. Dumping his things behind his desk, Tony sauntered over to bug the probie. "Morning, McGeek," Tony greeted him cheerfully.

McGee didn't raise his head. "Morning, Tony," he responded absentmindedly.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Tony sat on the corner of Tim's desk and picked up the cleaning spray.

"The security tapes."

"Why'd you need cleaning spray to watch a video?" Tony put the bottle back down.

McGee looked up at Tony, finally. "I thought there was something on the screen. It turned out to be the camera, not the computer."

"What was wrong with your computer, McGee?" Ziva asked as she entered.

"Nothing, Ziva," McGee answered. "It was the security camera."

"Ah. But you did not realize this at first?" Ziva glanced at the bottle of cleaning spray still sitting on his desk.

McGee sighed. "I saw some mist on the screen and I thought it was moisture on the screen. It turned out to be from the camera. It disappeared seconds after it first appeared."

"What disappeared?" Tony quickly stood up and Ziva turned around at the sound of Gibbs' voice. None of them could ever figure out how he snuck up on them.

Tony answered, "It's nothing, Boss. McGee saw something on the tapes that he thought was the computer, but it was just the camera."

Gibbs just looked at him and Tony stopped talking. "Tony, I want you to go talk to the doctor that checked Darvin out. Ziva, go to the bar and find out about his fight." He handed each agent a sheet of paper.

As Tony and Ziva dashed off to conduct their interviews, Gibbs turned to McGee. "Let's see those tapes."

McGee quickly transferred the videos to the large screen and started the first tape. "The first camera focuses entirely on the front of the store. Here's Danny coming in." The teen walked in, MacLean watching him over the top of his book as Danny looked over the merchandise. He disappeared behind the display case and Tim started the second camera to follow his movements. Danny grew increasingly annoyed as he studied the souvenirs.

Suddenly, Danny stiffened and a blue mist streamed from his mouth. Gibbs asked, "What's that?"

McGee put both videos on pause. "I don't know. At first, I thought it was condensation on the screen, and later decided it was on the camera lens." Stepping closer to the screen, he observed, "On the larger screen, it doesn't look like it."

Gibbs nodded and Tim restarted the video. The mist vanished as quickly as it came, and Danny crept over to the edge of the aisle and stuck his head out. "He stays like that for a bit."

Turning back to the first camera video, McGee pointed out, "Here's the sergeant Danny saw." The sergeant walked in, his hat pulled low over his face.

The sergeant walked up to the checkout counter. MacLean glanced up, eyebrows raised at first, then he smiled as he recognized the Marine. There was a sad look in his eyes, then concern. He cocked his head in disbelief. On the other screen, Danny perked up and looked like he concentrated harder on the conversation. As MacLean grew more annoyed, Danny shook his head.

During the conversation, MacLean narrowed his eyes, and Danny stiffened and frowned at what he heard.

The sergeant almost casually rested a hand on his holster. Danny blinked on the other screen. MacLean tensed as he visibly recognized the threat.

The sergeant pulled his weapon, and the teen on the other screen knocked a mug off the shelf. The sergeant and MacLean were distracted briefly after the mug fell. The adults turned to look at each other, seeing nothing as the other camera followed the teen as he jerked back and flattened himself against the display case, his blue eyes fearful.

"This is where it gets weird, Boss." On one screen, merchandise rose up off the shelves behind the sergeant and started hurling themselves at him. The merchandise fell to the floor as each item hit its target; the sergeant had difficulty avoiding the souvenirs.

Somehow, the sergeant managed to aim his gun at MacLean and hit the owner square in the chest. As the older man fell, everything in the store flew much more violently. Things flew across the screen from every angle, somehow avoiding the body of the store owner.

On the other screen, the case Danny hid behind began to tip over. The merchandise on its shelves fell around the teen as Danny tried to dodge the falling debris. Trying to get out of the way of the toppling case, Danny tripped on a travel mug lying on its side on the floor and fell hard. The case then fell completely, burying the teen beneath it.

Display cases on the camera in the front of the store toppled as well. In all the chaos, the sergeant fled the scene and all motion of the merchandise ceased.

Gibbs stood in thought as McGee shut off the large screen. "What could have done that?"

"I don't know, Boss. As I said, it got very weird. There were no remote controls on anything – all the trinkets were old-fashioned mugs, dishes, placards, windchimes, that kind of thing. Nothing we examined shows any cause for any of this."

Gibbs paused for a few seconds to consider this. "Darvin wasn't there when MacLean opened shop, was he?"

McGee blinked. "Uh... no. He wasn't." McGee didn't know what was going on, but Gibbs would tell him when he was ready.

Gibbs simply nodded. "Call the Fentons. I want to see Danny again."

"Right, Boss." McGee went to his desk phone and Gibbs walked out.

* * *

When Tony and Ziva returned, McGee was checking his e-mail and drinking a cup of coffee. McGee looked up at the two of them. "Hey, guys."

Tony and Ziva went to their respective desks. "You look cheerful, Probie," Tony noted.

"And you don't," McGee answered. "You guys hit a dead end?"

"I'm not sure yet." Tony slouched over his desk tiredly.

Ziva sat in her chair. "Sergeant Darvin is quite the mystery. A lot like Danny."

Tony started up in his seat. "Danny? He's a good kid."

"You are just saying that because he likes the same types of movies you do," Ziva told him sourly. "He behaves strangely."

"In what way?" McGee asked.

"When I first arrived here with him, he studied the parking garage like he was expecting a terrorist attack. I expect that in Israel. Someone from New York City, I understand. But Amity Park? That does not make sense."

Tony sighed. "Ziva, Amity Park is America's ghost capital. They see ghost attacks on a daily basis."

Ziva glared at him. "I know that, Tony. I _did_ research it. But he is still hiding something from us."

"He's just a kid, Ziva. I doubt it's anything serious."

"Tony," Ziva's tone was extraordinarily patient, "a child of Danny's age is fully capable of hiding important secrets."

Tony looked at her curiously. "What did you find out?"

Ziva sighed. Tony couldn't look it up himself? "For one thing, few of the attacks were large scale. Most were focused on the secondary school. Danny seems to know a lot about those attacks, in fact. He even led students in a rescue of their parents from ghosts."

Tony leaned back in his chair, folding his hands behind his head. "His parents are ghost hunters, Ziva. He probably learned how to use all their inventions."

"Tony, his mother did not even know he was fighting ghosts!" Ziva was exasperated. "If he is so capable, why would she not know?"

Tony grinned. "Danny has to deal with obsessive parents. He probably never told them because he knew they'd go nuts about the fact that their son was following in their footsteps. He probably made sure to leave right after he beat the ghosts he fought so they wouldn't find out. I doubt there's any way of finding out many details about most of those attacks."

"You would be surprised, Tony," Ziva answered. "I read about numerous recent reported ghost attacks from their local papers. A lunch lady ghost attacked because of an experimental lunch menu change to be all vegetarian." Tony and McGee looked at each other in bemusement at this. "Another time, a man reported his car suddenly rising into the air and flying him over the city during rush hour." Ziva considered mentioning Jack's report of the 'Wisconsin Ghost', but there was no mention of it in the papers.

The Israeli agent continued. "Of the few larger attacks, there was one night when objects all over town suddenly came to life, attacked their owners, and flew out the nearest open door or window leading outside." McGee whistled. "It gets even better, McGee. A ghost took over a communications satellite and caused chaos all over the world."

McGee was surprised to hear that. "_That_ was a ghost? I wondered why a secure network was going haywire all at once."

Tony said, "Yeah, I heard you complaining about it for a week afterwards. Do either of you remember a short-lived rock star named Ember?" McGee shook his head.

Ziva thought it over and nodded. "Yes. There was a global broadcast of a concert. Every teen in Israel with a television was going crazy for two days prior. The police were so overwhelmed, Mossad was brought in to help control the crowds. Things went back to normal so quickly, it was eerie."

Tony nodded thoughtfully. "Danny told me Ember was a ghost. He said that was why the kids were so into her so quickly."

Ziva latched onto Tony's first comment. "How did Danny know that she was a ghost? I doubt she advertised it."

Tony shrugged. "I don't know. But the concert was in Amity Park. He must have seen something on site that didn't show on the broadcast tapes."

"It was a live concert, Tony. And they did not record any of it. Ms. McLain did not want there to be any re-broadcastings." Ziva's father had told her what Ember had insisted on for the live international broadcast of her concert.

"I'm surprised no one realized there was something wrong when she made the demand," McGee noted. "They always record live concerts for rebroadcast. The networks and artists make more money off it when people tune in to watch it again."

Tony, feeling a bit left out, commented, "You know, since we're talking about public reports of ghost attacks, we _have_ to talk about the Christmas blitz and the time Amity Park was sucked into 'the Twilight Zone.'"

Ziva grimaced, having been caught off guard by the comment. Tony had actually done research? Well, she would not be outdone by him in this. "The most important part of all those ghost attacks is that the ghost most involved in them is a ghost named Danny Phantom."

Tony grinned in that annoying way of his. "Bet he's nothing like the Phantom." At the blank expressions on his colleagues' faces, he clarified, "You know, 'The Phantom?' Comic book character who was the first superhero to wear skintight costumes? He used one ring to mark villains with a skull and one to show who was under his protection?" Tony gave up. "Never mind. Am I the only one around here that reads comic books?" Ziva was surprised he read anything at all. He always seemed more interested in movies.

McGee sighed. "Tony, this is ridiculous. I doubt that Danny Phantom would have used a seventy-year-old comic book serial to pick the name he wanted to be known by."

"In any case," Ziva interrupted, "the first major national mention of Danny Phantom was a million-dollar bounty offered by a private citizen."

"How do you know it was a private citizen, Ziva?" Tony asked cheekily.

Ziva glared at the man. "I looked it up, Tony. No one knows who offered it. It was not the FBI, or the CIA, or even the Guys in White. One of them would have said they were the ones offering it if they were. It stands to reason that it was a private citizen with a personal grudge against the ghost."

McGee looked between his two colleagues. "I'm confused. Is he a good guy or not?"

"I do not know," Ziva admitted. "But he was seen trying to kidnap the mayor during the first major ghost invasion of Amity Park. It was reported by one of their local reporters, Shelly Makamoto."

Tony noted, "So, why would a ghost want to kidnap the mayor of such a small town? It's not like the ghost would get anything significant out of it."

Ziva was frustrated. "I do not know, Tony. But Danny knows something about Danny Phantom. It was strange: whenever his mother said something to praise Danny Phantom, he was pleased; when she said anything against Danny Phantom, Danny was upset. It is like Danny has an interest in seeing the ghost's reputation repaired."

Tony reclined in his desk chair again. "Ziva, Danny Phantom is practically the town hero. He was the one that rescued Amity Park from 'The Twilight Zone.'"

"The Ghost Zone," Ziva corrected, too annoyed with Tony to enjoy correcting him after all of the times he had corrected her misuse of American slang.

"Whatever." Tony was on a roll and didn't care. "I read that Danny Phantom had a 64 percent approval rating after that."

"Interesting observation, Tony. Your approval rating may go up when you complete your next assignment," Gibbs said as he strode in with his eternal cup of coffee. Tony sat up quickly as the senior agent entered the bullpen. Everyone was looking at Gibbs, now. "Ziva, what'd you get at the bar?"

Ziva pulled her notebook from her pocket and read her notes. "Sgt. Darvin entered the bar at 1:00. A drunk customer was rude to him and the two men fought. The drunk man punched Darvin in the eye before they were separated. The barkeep saw Darvin leave around 1:30."

Gibbs nodded. "Tony, what'd you find out from the doctor?"

Tony immediately dug out his notebook and flipped it open hurriedly. "Uh... Darvin saw the doc at 2:00. Besides the black eye, Darvin was badly bruised all over his back and shoulders. All Darvin told him was that he had been in a minor fight at a bar. He had no explanation for the severe bruising on his back." Tony looked up as he closed the notebook.

Gibbs sat at his desk. "Tony, get Darvin in here."

"Yes, Boss," Tony answered, picking up the receiver.

"McGee, I need you to pick up the Fentons in a half hour," Gibbs announced as he pulled a file out of a drawer.

"Yes, Boss," McGee answered.

As Tony called Darvin, Gibbs looked at McGee. "Talking to Darvin may take a while, so I want you to give the Fentons a tour when you get back with them."

"Right, Boss." McGee turned back to his computer.

* * *

As McGee pulled onto the highway, he glanced in his rear-view mirror at the two Fentons sitting in the back seat. After hearing about Jack threatening Ziva, he was glad it was Maddie that answered the door on his arrival. However, Jack had insisted on being the one to accompany Danny to NCIS this time.

While Tim was nervous at being in such a small space with the large man, he also recognized the opportunity he had to learn more about Danny. "So, Danny," McGee said, "I've been hearing a lot lately about Danny Phantom." Danny looked away from the window he'd been staring out of. McGee asked, "What do you think about him?"

Danny had to think about this. What could he say without giving himself away? "Danny Phantom tries to be a hero. Sometimes, he's more successful than other times."

Jack, not wanting to be left out of a conversation about ghosts, cut in. "That pesky ghost won't leave the kids alone. He's terrorized Casper High; he's invaded City Hall. He's a menace to society!" McGee winced at the volume.

Danny insisted, "But he saved all the adults in town. Doesn't that count for something?"

"Well... I guess," Jack reluctantly conceded.

Danny tried to think of another incident with a lot of impact. "And he saved the whole town from the Ghost Zone."

"Yes, he did," Jack recalled. "But there's still last Christmas to consider."

"What about last Christmas?" Danny asked.

Jack was on a roll. "He nearly destroyed Christmas. He destroyed all of the presents, the decorations, and the Christmas trees."

Danny cut in. "But he also put it all right in the end. He fixed everything he messed up. Doesn't that mean anything?"

Jack sighed. "I suppose so."

McGee interrupted at this point. "Thanks for the analysis. Danny, why do you have such a different opinion of Danny Phantom from your parents?"

Danny took several minutes to decide how to answer. McGee found this odd. Danny had obviously thought about this. Why was he taking so long to formulate a response?

Finally, Danny said, "Well... most of the time the public sees Danny Phantom, he's saving students from malevolent ghosts. The students have seen... him fight and defeat all kinds of other ghosts that would have hurt the students. Like, even Paulina Sanchez and Dash Baxter, even they know." Danny remembered when his secret came out in the Reality Gauntlet incident. "All of the _cool_ kids know Danny Phantom is looking out for them." He sighed wistfully. "Even the geeks know." A determined look crossed Danny's face. "There's a reason he's got a 64 percent approval rating... or did."

Listening to Danny's recitation, McGee realized that Danny seemed to have insider information about this ghost. "I just have one more question, Danny. Do you know Danny Phantom personally?"

Jack sat forward in curiosity. Danny's eyes widened and he stuttered, "I... I..."

McGee pulled into a space in the NCIS parking garage. Before he could try to pursue the line of questioning, Danny said, "We're here!" and jumped out of the car.

McGee noticed that while Danny had rushed from the car, the teen had taken time to look at every opening he could see: doors, air vents, windows, and even the vehicles. The agent concluded that both of his colleagues were right about Danny. As Ziva said, Danny was more skittish than normal and was clearly hiding something, though not necessarily dangerous. But Tony was also right that Danny was a good kid. Quite an enigma, was Danny Fenton.

* * *

Tony and Ziva stood in the observation room, watching as Darvin fidgeted in his seat in Interrogation. Gibbs sat across from him, back to the mirror concealing the observation room. The former Marine was quietly reading the case file.

Tony asked, "So what do you think Gibbs' technique will be this time?"

Ziva glanced at him before facing the two-way mirror again. "I think it will be a combination. All we have is circumstantial evidence. Gibbs needs to get Darvin to give us the one piece of real evidence we will have."

At last, Gibbs looked up at the nervous sergeant. "I've just got a few questions. Tell me again: when did you first enter the store?"

Darvin was surprised. "Around 8:30. That's when MacLean always opened his store."

Gibbs became thoughtful. "Interesting thing about that. The security tapes indicate that _no one_ but Corporal MacLean was in the store at that time." He sat forward in his seat. "However, someone fitting your description _was_ in the store at about 10:30. Would you care to try answering that _again_?"

Tony grinned as Darvin became visibly uncomfortable. "Gibbs has him, now," he noted to Ziva.

Darvin exasperatedly admitted, "Fine. So I wasn't there when I said. Maybe I just don't remember the exact time I went in."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow as he made a note, nodding inscrutably. "Right. The people at the bar corroborated your story. You got into a fight and the other guy got in a lucky punch. That explains the black eye." Darvin relaxed until Gibbs continued. "However, the doctor that checked you out told us about some heavy bruising on your back and shoulders. Care to explain how _that_ happened?"

Darvin sat back. "It happened in the fight..."

"No, it didn't," Gibbs interrupted. "The people at the bar all agree that you decked him. The guy you fought had quite a bit more to drink than you did."

Darvin put his hands on the table. "I'm done answering questions, now." He prepared to stand.

"No. You're not," Gibbs told him. "We have a witness that can put you at the scene."

The sergeant froze. "Who?"

Gibbs shrugged. "That's not important. The witness recognized your picture, and even heard MacLean call his killer 'Bobby.' That's enough to hold you for questioning."

Darvin crossed his arms over his chest. "Agent Gibbs, to a civilian, all men in uniform tend to look alike. And how many sergeants named 'Robert' do you think are in this area? And another thing: what reason would I have to kill him? He was my best friend's father." He sat back in his chair, certain he had beaten the agent at his own game.

In the observation room, Tony looked triumphantly at Ziva. "Gibbs has him, now. Time for the whammy." Ziva rolled her eyes at this and continued to watch.

Gibbs studied the sergeant a moment. "Since you're so sure you can prove your innocence, you won't mind handing over your weapon for a forensic analysis."

"Of course. I'd be happy to." Behind the mirror, Tony was gobsmacked.

* * *

Since Agent Gibbs was busy, Agent McGee offered to give the Fentons a tour of the building. Danny was fascinated by the inner workings of NCIS. McGee escorted Danny and Jack through some very interesting places.

One stop was just outside a large metal door. Beside it was what looked like a peephole. This, McGee told them, was MTAC. This room housed one of the most secure communications networks in the world. Jack was bubbling with excitement about the technology it contained. On being told that one could communicate with anyone anywhere in the world instantaneously, Jack couldn't help but blurt out, "With this, I could talk to Vladdie no matter _where_ he is in the world!" Danny cringed at this.

McGee asked who 'Vladdie' was and Jack began to babble about the billionaire, Vlad Masters, and how the ghost hunter and his wife, Maddie, were old college buddies of the famed businessman. Even while McGee listened to Jack's story of the accident that led to the older man's estrangement from his best friend, the agent noticed that Danny was distinctly uncomfortable about the topic of conversation.

Danny was relieved when McGee moved on to talking about the evidence lockup, where they stored crime scene evidence. Every time a piece of evidence changed hands, the person getting it had to sign for it. Danny was surprised at how much work went into building a criminal case.

Then, there was Interrogation. McGee didn't take them there, but he did explain that Interrogation was generally used to question serious suspects. Just being in there tends to make people nervous. Jack wanted to watch one, but McGee told him that it wasn't permitted. A suspect was innocent until proven guilty and allowing someone outside the investigation to watch the interrogation would undermine that.

When they got down to Autopsy, the only person present was Dr. Mallard. The medical examiner was working on his reports and looked up as they came in. "Timothy! This is an unexpected surprise."

"Yeah, Ducky. Gibbs suggested I give Danny and Mr. Fenton a tour, since he's a bit tied up right now." McGee gestured to the Fentons. The visitor's badge was particularly visible against Jack's bright orange Hazmat suit.

Ducky stood up, smiling genially at the two visitors. "It's nice to see you again, Danny." Danny smiled back at the doctor, who turned to face Jack. "And Mr. Fenton. It's a pleasure to meet you at last. I've been quite fascinated by your studies on supernatural phenomena." He shook hands with Jack, who looked delighted at finding a new audience to blather on about ghosts to.

The mere mention of the supernatural was all Jack needed. He was off on a long monologue about ghosts and ghost fighting, and the various inventions the Fentons had built. Ducky drank it all in, occasionally cutting Jack off to ask a clarifying question. Jack didn't mind these interruptions at all, as they provided new avenues of discussion.

Danny and McGee rolled their eyes and shared a bemused glance. After about ten minutes, McGee found a break and said, "Ducky? We need to finish the tour."

Ducky turned to face McGee. "Go ahead, Timothy. We'll catch up." He turned back to Jack and they resumed their discussion.

McGee sighed. "Come on, Danny. The next stop is Forensics." Danny was deeply relieved to finally get out of there. When Jack got going, it took a lot to slow him down.

When the doors to Forensics slid open, Danny was overjoyed to hear 'My Parents Reek,' by Morbid Anti-Social Youth, blaring through the lab. "Awesome!" Danny shouted.

Abby, rocking out to the music while sipping from a 32 oz. cup of CafPow, turned at hearing the teen's voice. "Danny!" She came forward and hugged the boy. Danny decided he was in love. Even though he knew the forensics specialist was a cross between being a goth like Sam and super-perky like Jazz, listening to the right music went a long way. He could hang out with Abby all day.

Then, she looked up at McGee. "Hey, Tim." She let go of Danny. "What's up?"

Tim sighed. "Gibbs was busy, so he asked me to give Danny and his dad a tour." At Abby's questioning look, he clarified, "Ducky is finding out everything Mr. Fenton knows about ghosts."

Abby grinned. "That's Ducky. So Danny, you like Morbid Anti-Social Youth?"

Danny's answering grin gave her the answer. "Yeah. I bought this album for my friend Sam last year. I was going to the music store and she asked me to get it while I was there."

Abby put her hand on Danny's shoulder. "I totally get it, Danny. Your girlfriend has _great_ taste in music."

Danny protested, "She's not my girlfriend!" McGee smirked.

Abby smiled. "I know. Now, you want to see my babies?" She indicated the machines that sat on various surfaces around the lab.

"Sure!" Danny couldn't wait to tell Tucker. If the names got too complicated, he'd ask Abby to write them down. He didn't think she'd mind.

Abby immediately got involved in describing the functions of every machine in the lab in detail. Her obvious favorite was the Mass Spectrometer, which analyzes the chemical makeup of samples.

Danny quickly got lost in the technical terms, but he knew Tucker would eat it all up. Heck, he'd likely have been drooling over it all from the moment he entered the lab.

"Danny?" The teen jerked out of his reverie at Abby's worried question. "You okay?"

Shaking his head to clear it, Danny turned to look at Abby. "Yeah. Just thinking about my best friend, Tucker. He'd go nuts about all this."

Abby smiled. "He's a technogeek, too, huh?"

"Yeah, Tucker Foley. He's gotten me out of a lot of jams with his PDA." Danny grinned at the memory of Tucker using that ever-present PDA to hack into Skulker's mechanized battle suit.

"Just a PDA?" Abby was impressed. "What company made it? Acer? HTC?"

As Abby tried to find out about the PDA Danny's friend owned, McGee considered the new information. It sounded like Tucker had used a lot of ingenuity. But McGee was curious what the teens had done to need it.

When Abby had exhausted Danny's knowledge of PDAs, McGee asked, "Danny, what kinds of jams has Tucker used his PDA to get you out of?"

Danny considered the question. "Well, when those ghosts kidnapped all the adults in town, we got Tucker smuggled aboard to break the spell the adults were under. He used his PDA to hack into the ghost shield the ghosts stole from the top of our house and reversed its polarity to trap the ghosts on the ship."

McGee stared. He wondered what kind of ship ghosts would have, such that they were now trapped on it. "That is cool. He's really good at finding ways to use a PDA." The agent said nothing about how interesting he found it that a teen knew enough about the Fentons' tech to know how to do what he did.

Danny nodded. "He sure is. Once, a ghost managed to possess a whole bunch of technology my dad had in our shed. The computer the ghost possessed had an obsolete operating system and he got his hands on the update disk." Danny got an embarrassed look in his eyes at this. "Tucker had to program his PDA with a newer operating system and use a back door to hack into the computer and shut it down."

Abby grinned. "Wow! He could be dangerous."

Danny laughed. "Yeah, he can be. He doesn't even need a PDA to work to be helpful. A ghost once pretended to be running a beauty pageant to find a bride for her brother and made me the judge for some reason. I accidentally picked Sam as the winner – you don't want to know why she signed up for it – and Tucker and I went to rescue her. That area of the Ghost Zone was in the Dark Ages and no technology would work there. Tucker used his PDA as a projectile to keep the ghosts busy. The ghost that set up the pageant ended up helping us fight her brother, but Tucker throwing his PDA was priceless."

Abby and McGee both joined in Danny's amusement. Picturing using a nonfunctional piece of equipment as a weapon was just too funny. The laughter lasted two minutes, until Agent McGee remembered that he needed to get Danny to the bullpen to meet Gibbs. He hoped Ducky got Mr. Fenton there in time.

* * *

McGee and Danny got to the bullpen in time to see Gibbs arrive from Interrogation. The older agent seemed annoyed about something. Timidly, McGee asked, "Is everything alright, Boss?"

Gibbs looked at McGee and took a calming breath. "Everything's fine, Tim." He noticed the teen beside McGee and asked, "Where's Mr. Fenton?"

Before McGee could answer, the elevator dinged. Jack Fenton soon emerged from the elevator, talking animatedly with Ducky. Danny wasn't sure if he should be disturbed or pleased to see that it was a _two_-way conversation about ghost biology. The conversation wound down as the two men approached.

Finally, Gibbs said, "If you're done, Ducky, I need Mr. Fenton to be in the room while I talk to Danny."

Ducky turned to look at Gibbs. "Of course, Jethro. Forgive me." He turned back to Jack and shook his hand. "It was a pleasure talking with you. If you'll excuse me, I have a great deal of paperwork to complete."

Jack grinned. "The pleasure's all mine, Ducky. I've never had so much fun blathering on about ghosts."

Gibbs stared thoughtfully after Ducky until the elevator door closed. Then, he turned to the two Fentons. "Come with me." Danny and Jack followed him up the stairs to the conference room he used yesterday.

Sitting down, Gibbs directed Jack and Danny to seats and opened the case file in front of him. After a moment, he looked at Danny. "I've looked at the store's security tapes." Anxiety flashed for an instant in Danny's eyes. "There was a lot of stuff being thrown around the place. It looked like... a bizarre ghost occurrence in a movie."

Danny sighed. "I wouldn't doubt it."

Gibbs looked oddly at Danny, but decided to get back to that later. "The tape showed a blue mist coming from your mouth. What is it?"

Danny panicked for a moment, wondering what to tell the agent. Thinking quickly, he said, "Ghosts usually make the air around them colder. Condensation..."

Gibbs made a note, then cut Danny off while he was fumbling for an answer. "You said you wouldn't doubt it. Ghosts cause trouble?"

Jack blurted out, "You bet they do! Half the crime in Amity Park is caused by ghosts." Danny buried his face in his hands in embarrassment.

Gibbs firmly told the exuberant man, "Mr. Fenton, I need to hear the answer from your son." After a heartfelt apology from Jack, Gibbs turned back to Danny. "Now, do ghosts cause trouble?"

The nervous teen glanced at his father. "Depends on the ghost."

Gibbs sighed in annoyance at the obvious attempt at evading the question. "Alright. Tell me about Danny Phantom."

Danny shrugged. "What do you want to know?"

Gibbs leaned forward a little. "Is he on the side of the law, or not?" When Jack opened his mouth to put in his two cents, Gibbs gave him a pointed look. Surprisingly, the ghost hunter closed his mouth immediately.

Danny paused before answering. "Yes. He works hard, to work for law and order." The teen smiled a bit. "Truth, Justice, and the American way." The teen couldn't help thinking it in his 'superhero' voice, though he said it out loud normally.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. This kid read too many comic books. DiNozzo probably loved talking to him.

Danny winced a bit sheepishly. "Sorry. I've seen him all over town, fighting ghosts who want to take over the world, take over the school, take over technology." He rolled his eyes as he added, "Disrupt family life."

Gibbs recalled an incident that he'd seen on the news a year and half ago. "Kidnap the mayor?"

Danny dropped his head. "That actually happened during a major ghost invasion. Ghosts overshadowed humans all over the place. I understand that the mayor was overshadowed... you know, possessed?– by an evil ghost. Danny Phantom forced out the malevolent ghost, but the malevolent ghost... had a grudge and framed Phantom." Jack seemed surprised by the revelations his son had made.

Gibbs didn't give him the chance to question Danny immediately. "So these other ghosts have something against Phantom?"

Danny looked up at the agent, relief in his eyes. "Yeah. They hate him for stopping them from hurting people with their obsessions."

Gibbs nodded. "You've been very helpful, Danny. Mr. Fenton, thanks for coming." He shook hands with Jack, then rose from his seat. "I'll have an agent drive you two home." As they walked out of the room, Gibbs rubbed at his eyes tiredly. He muttered to himself, "This is shaping up to be another late night at the office." Unbeknownst to the agent, Danny caught the comment.


	6. Chapter 6: Ghosts and Investigations

A/N: My sincerest apologies to all of you for the length of time between posts, this time around. Life got difficult for a while. Things are now straightened out, and the only things likely to delay future posts should be the usual writer's block and my search for a paying job. Thank you for waiting so patiently for this chapter.

A big thanks to all of you for reading and putting this fic on your Favorite and Alert lists! As of this writing, 102 people have added this fic to their Favorite lists and 141 people have put it on their Alert lists. This story is on 7 C2s, and has 6442 hits and 95 reviews. You all get iced tea of your favorite flavor and chocolate chip cookies, as a thank you. I truly enjoy every review I receive. Kudos to c-los, Random Flyer, and FantomoDrako for picking up on the clues to what will happen this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Danny Phantom_ or _NCIS_. I also do not own _Forrest Gump_.

Chapter 6: Ghosts and Investigations

Danny managed to avoid telling his dad _how_ he knew the mayor was overshadowed by the simple expedient of getting Jack talking about the cool tech NCIS had. Maddie listened with interest, for a while, to her husband's excited description of everything they'd seen. As soon as she could reasonably do so, Jazz escaped to her room. She dragged Danny with her.

The moment the two siblings were in Jazz's room and the door was closed, Jazz rounded on her brother. "What did they want to know, Danny? You told them what happened yesterday."

Danny sighed. "I'm not sure what Agent Gibbs was after, Jazz. He was asking about ghosts; about Danny Phantom, in particular." At Jazz's worried look, Danny hastened to add, "I didn't tell him much. He's at least willing to hear good stuff about ghosts, especially Danny Phantom. What's got me worried is that he said the security camera at the store caught my ghost sense going off."

Jazz started to pace, thinking about what her baby brother could do to head this off. After a few minutes' thought, she turned to face the half-ghost teen. "We probably have some time to figure out a solution to this. After all, not even Mom and Dad think that a human can get ghost powers, and they're the world's foremost ghost experts. The ghost sense on the security footage is the only clue they have, right?"

Danny blushed a bit and rubbed the back of his neck. "Um... Actually, when they found me at the store, their doctor checked me out. He was surprised that I wasn't even bruised after I was buried under a display case for a few hours."

Jazz glared at the younger teen. "Danny!" She sighed in exasperation. "Well, they might not know that ghosts heal faster than humans. So, your secret is probably still safe, regardless."

That night, Danny pretended to go to bed early. Maddie let him, visibly concerned about her baby boy. Danny waited until his parents checked in on him before going on patrol, just to be safe. The ghost he sensed yesterday was still out there somewhere; he wanted to find out who it was and what it wanted.

Danny went ghost, turned invisible and intangible, and flew off to see if he could find the other ghost. The base was pretty quiet around the housing. It was near the military offices that Danny noticed something strange. The military police were on guard at the gate, but they paid more attention to the street outside the compound. This, in itself, seemed normal, but Danny noticed a light in one of the offices. It was a concentrated light, not lighting the whole room, and it kept moving around unsteadily.

Danny flew in closer to get a better look. A young man wearing black clothes was rifling through the files in the filing cabinet almost frantically. Light brown hair, slightly shorter than Danny's, hung in the man's face as he searched. Danny flew up behind the man to see what he was trying to find. The man stopped at a file as the invisible half-ghost approached.

Pulling out the file, the man flipped through the contents, growing frustrated at what he was reading. Danny noticed that the file contained the specs for the ghost shield, describing the parameters his parents had been working on. It also showed where the generator would be placed and how many MPs would be needed to guard it. Why would this man want to know about the ghost shield? Didn't that sergeant also want to know about it?

Danny left the building, thinking over this oddity. Two men looking for information about the same 'security system' couldn't be a coincidence. Why would they need to know this kind of thing? Well, it wasn't Danny's job to stop them, whatever they were doing, though the hero in him told him it was his responsibility to do _something_ to stop these guys. It was up to Agent Gibbs to... Wait a minute, he could tell Agent Gibbs!

The problem was how to explain how he knew. Danny Fenton had no way of knowing this stuff. Gibbs was working late. He could go as Danny Phantom and tell him he'd seen a guy looking at the ghost shield stuff. He'd just have to explain why he was in Virginia and hope that no one made any connections.

* * *

After the Fentons left earlier that evening, Gibbs headed down to Autopsy. As Ducky had told Jack, the elder man was filling out paperwork for his latest cases. Stepping into the lab, Gibbs was pleased when his old friend looked up in surprise at his entrance. "Hello, Jethro. Have the Fentons left already?" The medical examiner closed the folder he was currently working on.

"Yeah, Duck. Just came down to ask for your opinion on Mr. Fenton. Since you talked to him for a while, I figure you picked up quite a bit." Gibbs paced around the lab as he spoke, studying the various things sitting on shelves around the room.

Ducky rose from his seat and walked over to him. "I did learn a lot from Mr. Fenton. He is a dedicated man. It's amazing what he's done over the years. He created a portal to another dimension while still in college. His work on ghosts, while unacknowledged until recently, has gone further than anything else on record. His main inventions are designed to capture, harm, or disable ghosts for varying lengths of time.

"He even has a tracking device in the shape of a large boomerang." The doctor chuckled. "For some strange reason, this tracking device locked onto his son. He doesn't understand why. Obviously, Danny can't be a ghost, as he's still alive."

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully. "What about Mr. Fenton himself? What kind of man is he?"

Ducky paced back and forth a few times. "Well, as I said before, he's a dedicated man. Very little is as important to him as fighting ghosts, except protecting his family. He was very pleased when his theories on ghosts were proved correct. But when his family is in danger, no one can hold him back.

"For Jack Fenton, ghosts are an obsession. He and his wife are trying to capture ghosts to study them. They have theories they wish to test, some of which have borne out in various fights with ghosts. One of the theories he wishes to confirm is that ghosts can heal faster than humans. Apparently, their ectoplasm has the capability to replenish itself more swiftly than our cells can."

Gibbs looked at Ducky a moment, then considered something. Making his decision, he turned to leave. "Thanks, Duck." He walked to the door.

"Always happy to help, Jethro," Ducky called out just before the door closed.

Gibbs next went to Forensics, where he found Abby blasting heavy metal music through the lab. The Goth was in her office, working on something. "Abby!"

The young woman looked up at his voice. She came out, turned off the music, and sadly greeted him. "Hey, Gibbs."

Gibbs was concerned. "What's wrong, Abs?"

Abby sighed disconsolately. "I ran Sgt. Darvin's gun through ballistics. It wasn't the gun used to kill Cpl. MacLean."

Gibbs ran a hand through his hair. "There's something we're missing. All the other evidence points to Darvin, but we don't even have a motive."

Abby patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry Gibbs, something will come up. You are never wrong about these things."

Gibbs gave her one of his rare smiles. "Thanks, Abby." He gave her a brief hug. "Cheer up. We'll find the gun."

* * *

Later that night, Gibbs sat at his desk in the empty bullpen. He'd sent the rest of the team home three hours ago. The senior agent stayed, certain he'd missed something important. He read through the case file over and over, searching for anything on Darvin that could present a new lead. A quick glance at his watch showed the time to be 11:30.

As Gibbs took a sip of his coffee, he shivered at a sudden discernible drop in the room temperature. Taking off his glasses, he looked up to see a teenaged boy _floating_ a couple of feet above the floor in front of the window. The boy had white hair and glowing green eyes, and wore a black Hazmat suit with white gloves and boots and a white DP logo on his chest. "Danny Phantom, I presume?" He put his glasses down next to the file.

The ghost started in surprise at Gibbs' words, but he quickly recovered. "Yeah. That's me." His voice had an echo-y quality.

Gibbs studied the ghost teen speculatively. "I understand your main haunt is Amity Park, Illinois."

Phantom nodded. "That's right."

The agent sat back and crossed his arms. "So why are you so far from home?"

Danny had thought up an answer on the way over. "The Fentons were leaving town. I have a vested interest in keeping them safe."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "The Fentons hate you. Why protect them?"

Drifting closer to Gibbs' desk, the ghost answered, "They need my help. Jazz knows how much I help. Jack and Maddie..." He turned his head and whispered, "That is _so_ cool!" Turning back to face Gibbs, he continued, "Not so much. But they'll come around."

Gibbs leveled a shrewd look at the hovering boy. "What about Danny?"

Danny landed on his feet, Gibbs' careful listening surprising him. "Danny knows what I'm doing to help, also. He knows it better than anyone."

Gibbs considered this. "How well do you know Danny?"

Danny stepped back nervously. "As well as anyone can know anyone else."

Gibbs frowned in annoyance at the ghost boy's attempt at obfuscation. Still, there was a reason the ghost had come to him. "Why did you come here tonight?"

The teen hero was startled by the sudden gear shift. "I was patrolling the base, looking for ghosts."

Gibbs cut in. "Ghosts? Why ghosts?"

Danny crossed his arms. "First, the Fentons have been attacked by ghosts before. Comes with the territory of being the country's foremost ghost experts. Second, I heard about the second ghost their equipment picked up. I need to find out who it is and what it wants."

"Why is the ghost an it?" Gibbs wanted to know.

Danny sighed. "Most humanoid ghosts are obviously male or female. I'm a guy. I know other ghosts that are guys. I know other ghosts that are girls.

"But there are also ghosts that are animals or indeterminate blobs of ectoplasm. I don't know anything about this ghost. Until I find out, the ghost is an it."

Gibbs nodded. "Very logical. So, you were trying to find this ghost."

"Yeah," Danny answered. "I was flying past the offices when I saw this light in one of the upper windows. I flew in for a closer look and I saw this guy sneaking around in an office."

Gibbs stood up and came around to sit on his desk. "How do you know he was sneaking around?"

Phantom looked askance at him from beneath his white bangs. "One, he was acting like he wasn't supposed to be there. Two, he had a flashlight. It looked a lot like the Watergate scene in _Forrest Gump_. If he belonged there, he would have used the main light. Three, he was going through the files like he had no clue what he was looking for. He stopped at the file on the Fenton Ghost Shield. He didn't seem happy with what he was reading."

Gibbs rose from his perch and began to pace. After a few minutes, he stopped and turned to face the young ghost. "Did you get a good look at him?"

Danny nodded. "He was about 5 foot eight. He had brown hair a little shorter than mine. He had a slightly oval face and regular features. I didn't really see his eyes."

Gibbs grabbed a notepad from his drawer and a pencil from the desk. "Think you could come back and describe him to a sketch artist?"

Danny considered how to make that work. "Well, I could come back tomorrow night around 10:30."

Gibbs jotted it down. "No problem. I'll have someone here." He wished he could keep it in the team for this. He missed Kate. She was a great artist. He stopped that thought before it could go any further. "So, what do I call you?"

"Danny."

"Thanks for your help, Danny." Gibbs held out his hand.

"I'm always happy to help law enforcement." Danny took his hand. Gibbs was surprised that the ghost's hand was just a little cool to the touch. The teen quickly released his hand. As he left, he waved to the agent. "See you tomorrow."

Gibbs watched the ghost phase through the glass and fly into the night. "That... was interesting."

* * *

The next morning, after his parents left, Danny came into Jazz's room. "Jazz, there's something you need to know." He nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

Jazz, lying on her stomach on top of her blanket, looked up from her book. "What is it, little brother?" Seeing the worry on his face, she quickly closed the book and sat up to make room on her bed.

Danny sat down beside his older sister. "I went on patrol last night and saw a guy at the base offices looking for stuff on the ghost shield. He was a different guy than the one I saw at the store."

Jazz considered the information. "You need to tell someone about this."

Danny cut her off. "I already did, Jazz. Right after I saw him, I went to NCIS and told Agent Gibbs."

Jazz's eyes went wide at this. "You did _what_?"

Danny quickly explained himself. "I went as Danny Phantom."

The older teen immediately went into overprotective mode. "Did he make any kind of connection between your ghost form and human form?"

Danny sighed in annoyance. "I don't know. I think all he got was that Danny Phantom cares a lot about protecting the Fentons. I don't think he got much else. I _do_ know how to protect my secret."

Jazz wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I know, Danny. I'm just worried about you."

"Everything's fine, Jazz. I'm going back tonight to describe the guy to a sketch artist and that'll be it." Danny grinned. "Danny Phantom will go back to hunting down the other ghost. No need for NCIS to know what I'm doing to catch it."

Jazz studied her brother. "You're _absolutely_ sure Agent Gibbs won't make the connection?"

Danny looked askance at the girl. "Jazz, no one in Amity Park has made the connection in almost two years. How would Agent Gibbs make the connection after only knowing me for, like, two days?"

* * *

Gibbs came to work early, having gone home to a few hours' sleep right after Danny Phantom left. He went up to MTAC, looked into the retinal scanner, and waited to receive the okay to enter. Director Jennifer Shepard always let him enter, even during her conferences with the Secretary of the Navy, or Sec. Nav. for short. He was unsurprised when the door unlocked for him.

Jenny turned to look at him, annoyed as usual at his unexpected arrival. "I'm busy, Jethro. What do you want now?" She glared at him.

Gibbs calmly answered, "Just came to ask the Sec. Nav. a few questions, Director." He turned to face the screen. "Good morning, Mr. Secretary."

The Secretary of the Navy sat at his desk, looking resigned at the interruption. "Special Agent Gibbs, what questions were you looking to ask?"

Gibbs moved up next to Director Shepard's chair, now facing the screen as well. "Well, sir, I came across something in my investigation. I wanted to double-check the facts."

This was far nicer than Gibbs usually got. The Secretary sat forward in interest. "What did you want to discuss?"

Gibbs crossed his arms. "What can you tell me about the Guys in White?"

This was the last thing either the director or the Secretary expected. Jenny asked, "What does this have to do with the murder of a retired Marine corporal?"

Gibbs turned to face his one-time girlfriend. "My witness and his family have mentioned them twice in casual conversation. I want to know more." He turned back to the Sec. Nav. "Sir?"

The Secretary considered the question before answering. "The Guys in White were established as the enforcing arm for the Ecto-Control Act. A few months after they began operations, they made national attention when an anonymous benefactor issued a million-dollar bounty for the capture of a ghost named Danny Phantom. Since the major ghost activity is in Amity Park, Illinois, the Guys in White base a lot of their operations there."

Gibbs processed the new information. "If we have people trained to deal with ghosts, why bring in the Fentons? Why not keep it in the family, so to speak?"

The Secretary sighed. "Because, Agent Gibbs, the Guys in White are _incompetent_! After more than a year in operation, they have yet to capture more than a few ghosts. And the containment units don't function for longer than a couple of months.

"They _have_ improved their technique, and the tech _is_ getting better. But they have never developed a fully functional ghost shield and they're obsessed with catching Danny Phantom. Any other ghost is secondary in importance to them."

Gibbs nodded. "Thanks for the intel, sir. Good morning, director." He turned to go.

"Good morning, Jethro," the director called after him before returning to her interrupted conference.

* * *

McGee, Tony, and Ziva stood together near Tony's desk, waiting for Gibbs to come back from wherever he'd gone. Tony asked, "So, Probie, you spent a lot of time with Danny yesterday. What do you think of him?"

Tim considered the question. "Well, he's a good kid, like you said. But Ziva was also right about Danny's behavior. He's definitely hiding something – he had to think before he could tell me why his opinion of Danny Phantom was so different from his parents'. And he also has positive insider info on Danny Phantom and won't discuss it."

Ziva nodded. "Very astute, McGee." She turned to Tony. "I told you he was hiding something, Tony! Do you disagree with me on principle?"

Tony sighed. "What I was disagreeing with you about was that Danny's secret was dangerous. I never said he wasn't hiding anything." He looked at McGee. "What did you see?"

Tim shook his head at his colleagues' antics. "Like I said, he had to think too long about why he likes Danny Phantom. And he seems to know more about the ghosts that attack his town than his father – a professional ghost hunter."

Tony nodded. "I noticed the same thing with Danny and Mrs. Fenton."

McGee replied, "Yeah, Tony. I thought it was pretty strange. But when I asked him if he knew Phantom personally, he wouldn't answer me. He even ran from the car, rather than give me a chance to ask him again."

Ziva looked thoughtful. "Danny may feel uncomfortable discussing his friendship with Phantom in front of his parents because of their animosity towards the ghost."

"Maybe," McGee agreed. "The weirdness didn't stop with that, either. The tour just gave me more opportunities to see oddities. When I showed them the door to MTAC, Mr. Fenton ended up telling me about his old friend, Vlad Masters."

Tony whistled in appreciation. "Dad had some dealings with VladCo a while back. Vlad Masters is one of the premier technology moguls in the country."

Ziva looked impressed, as well. "Vladimir Masters is known worldwide in technology. His developments are in use all over Israel. I would imagine that Mr. Fenton would take great pride in the fact that he knew this man before he became so important."

"Yeah, he did," McGee told them. "But Danny was not so pleased about it. He looked very uncomfortable – far more than he should if it was just not wanting to hear about 'the good old days.' Later on, Mr. Fenton got caught up in talking to Ducky, so we left him to it.

"In Abby's lab, I discovered more strange stuff. Somewhere in the middle of Abby telling him about her lab equipment, Danny told us about his technogeek friend, Tucker. Tucker was somehow able to hack into the Fentons' high-tech equipment with a PDA!"

Tony's eyes were wide. "How did a high school student manage _that_?"

McGee shrugged. "I don't know. He'd have to be familiar with the programming of the device he hacked into just to _access_ it, let alone reprogram it." He looked at Tony. "That's really about it. How'd the interview with Darvin go?"

Tony became sullen. "Badly. Darvin definitely looks guilty. All the evidence points to him. But we have _no_ motive and _no_ weapon. Abby checked out his gun last night, and it wasn't our murder weapon. He even willingly handed it over!"

Ziva added, "He acts like an innocent man. His outrage at being considered a suspect appears genuine. But, again, _all_ of the evidence points to Darvin."

Gibbs came downstairs at this point. "So we need to get more evidence." Everyone turned to him as he entered the bullpen. "McGee, DiNozzo, I want you to go back to MacLean's store. Check all the dumpsters and gutters in a one-block radius."

"On it, Boss," the two younger men chorused. They quickly grabbed their bags and ran out.

"Ziva," Gibbs continued, as though he'd never been interrupted, "check records and find out who at the base has been accessing records on the ghost shield legitimately."

"Right, Gibbs." The Mossad officer went to her desk.

"I'll be back in a couple hours." Gibbs headed to the elevator.

"Where are you going, Gibbs?" Ziva called out, but the elevator doors had just closed on him.

* * *

Tony and McGee searched every inch of the street in front of MacLean's store. They shone a flashlight into the sewer drains all along the block. They found nothing. The trash cans only had trash inside.

Finally, they turned into the narrow alley nearest to the store. A large dumpster sat about twenty feet down the street from the main road, on their left. As the two agents approached the dumpster, Tony announced, "Alright, Probie, in you go."

McGee jerked around to face the slightly older man. "Why do _I_ have to go in there?"

Tony grinned. "Because _I_ am the senior field agent and I told you to."

McGee sighed in annoyance, eyeing the dumpster. "Fine. Help me up." He approached the dumpster and put his gear down far enough away to keep it out of the way of falling trash. With Tony's help, he climbed up and jumped into the pile of garbage. Luckily, it wasn't terribly deep.

The young agent dug through the garbage for five minutes before his gloved hands felt metal. Grabbing it and pulling it out, Tim held up a Baretta M9 Pistol. A clip was still loaded in the weapon. Tony held open an evidence bag for him, into which McGee dropped the gun.

McGee climbed out, resolved to shower first thing on his return to the office. Grabbing his bag, he said, "You'd better give me credit for finding the gun, Tony."

Tony gave him a wounded look. "Of course, Probie. How else do I explain you taking a shower and leaving _me_ to bring the evidence to Abby? That's probie work, after all. I only do that if you're not available."

McGee looked at Tony knowingly. "Or if Gibbs tells you to."

DiNozzo closed his eyes, a pained look on his face. "That, too."

* * *

When Gibbs arrived at the Fentons', the RV was gone. Jack and Maddie had obviously left to continue the work of installing the ghost shield. The agent came up the walkway and rang the doorbell.

Within seconds, the door opened to reveal Jazz Fenton. The red-haired teen had a gun at the ready, though thankfully not pointed at him. On seeing the agent, the girl lowered the weapon. "Agent Gibbs! What's going on? I'm afraid Mom and Dad won't be back for a while."

Gibbs gave her a reassuring smile. "That's alright, Miss Fenton. I'm actually here to speak with _you_ if you're willing."

Jazz studied the man uncertainly. "My parents ought to be here, anyway. I'm only 17."

Gibbs nodded. "That would be true, if we were discussing the case. My questions are just personal curiosity. None of what I want to discuss will be in any way case-related. All that's necessary is for you to be willing to talk to me."

Jazz considered this. It all sounded logical. "Alright," she agreed. "As long as we aren't talking about the case, I see no problem with a simple conversation." The teen opened the door wider to admit the man. "Do you want some coffee while we talk?"

Gibbs entered the house. "I'd love some."

The two sat down in the living room, Gibbs on the sofa and Jazz on a chair. Danny was nowhere in sight. "Where's Danny?" Gibbs asked.

Jazz poured Gibbs his coffee and said, "He's in his room, playing his favorite computer game. Do you want me to get him out here?"

Gibbs shook his head. "There's no need." He took a sip of his coffee. "I've been hearing a lot, lately, about Danny Phantom." Jazz looked up from putting the carafe down, startled. "What do you think of him?"

Jazz sat back in her seat. "He's a hero. He tries very hard to help the people of Amity Park. He had some confidence issues at first, but they've mostly been resolved. I know that Mom and Dad don't trust him, but Danny Phantom's saved the town (especially the school) more times than I can count."

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully. "How do you and Danny know him?"

Jazz eyed the agent suspiciously. What was he up to? Not sure of what was going on, she said, "Well, Phantom regularly fights ghosts on the grounds of Casper High. Once, a freakishly giant ghost hornet attacked, and it went after me. Danny Phantom saved me from it. When ghosts kidnapped half the adults in town, Danny got the kids from school involved, and Phantom helped them rescue everyone."

Gibbs considered this while taking a sip of his coffee. "Are you familiar with how your parents' inventions work?"

Jazz stared at him, confused by the sudden change in the line of questioning. Gibbs simply waited for an answer. "Of course I do. It's hard not to when it's all Mom and Dad talk about. Besides, I'd do anything to protect my baby brother." Her tone was protective, rather than bitter.

"How accurate is their equipment?"

"Depends on who's using it." This statement was evasive.

"What do you mean?"

Jazz explained, "Mom has the aim of a sharpshooter. Dad... not so much." The teen appeared to be a bit embarrassed by this admission.

Gibbs took another sip of his coffee. "Your mother mentioned picking up two ghosts in the vicinity of the base. Does the equipment have a tendency to be accurate?"

Jazz had no idea what Gibbs was trying to learn with these questions. "They do tend to be pretty accurate." She muttered, "Sometimes, a little _too_ accurate."

Gibbs studied the young woman. "Including the boomerang?"

Jazz started in surprise. "The boomerang?"

Gibbs nodded. "Yeah. The boomerang."

Jazz's heart sank. How much did he know? "It's hard to say..." She trailed off.

Puzzled, Gibbs asked, "Why is it hard to say? It's been used, hasn't it?"

Jazz sighed. "It's never locked onto anything but Danny. Mom and Dad have fiddled with it, but it won't lead them to any recognizable ghosts."

Gibbs thoughtfully sipped his coffee. "Have any other of your parents' inventions locked onto Danny?"

Jazz was worried. "Yes. Why? What's going on?"

Gibbs put his mug down. "Everything is fine, Miss Fenton. I just needed to ask you some questions and confirm a few facts."

Jazz glanced in the direction of her brother's room. "Danny's not in trouble, is he?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Should he be?"

Jazz hurriedly objected. "No! Danny only does the right thing!" Recalling his extracurricular activities, she amended, "Maybe not his homework, but it's summer vacation."

Gibbs sat back on the sofa. "If he hasn't done anything wrong, then there's no reason for him to be in trouble." He stood up. "Thanks for your time." Seeing the concern on the girl's face, he assured her, "I can't see that your brother's done anything wrong, either. There's nothing to worry about."

Jazz, sufficiently reassured, escorted Gibbs to the door. The moment he was gone, she sighed in relief at having gotten through the interview.


	7. Chapter 7: Answers

A/N: Thank you once again for all your support. I appreciate all of you who have read, reviewed, and put this story (and me) on your assorted lists. I offer apples and honey to everyone. A slice of apple pie goes to creative-writing-girl13, Random Flyer, and Skye Silverwing for guessing where my subplot is heading. A big hug goes to my friend and beta, Miriam1, for all her help in writing this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Danny Phantom_ or _NCIS_. I also make no claims to own _Superman_ in any of his incarnations: comic strip, comic book, cartoons, the various television shows (either animated or live-action), or the movies.

Chapter 7: Answers

Danny came out of his room five minutes after Gibbs left, to find Jazz pacing in the living room. "Jazz, what's wrong?" He'd heard her talking to Gibbs, but everything had sounded alright.

Jazz looked up at her brother. "Agent Gibbs asked a lot of questions about you, and about Mom and Dad's inventions. At first, it seemed to be all about learning more about Danny Phantom. But his questions went all over the place. He wanted to know how accurate the ghost tracking equipment is." Danny looked worriedly at the older teen. "I tried to hold him off, but he's very persistent. I had to tell him about the boomerang locking onto you."

Danny paced the room a couple of times. "Well, there's not much we can do about it. But Mom and Dad have always dismissed the lock as a malfunction, even with everything else working right. If experts can ignore it, someone who knows nothing about ghosts should, too."

Jazz frowned. "I don't think so, Danny. Agent Gibbs is pretty smart. He can figure it out. You need to be careful when you go to NCIS tonight."

Danny sighed. "Don't worry, Jazz. I'll watch myself." He said it with more confidence than he felt. Jazz was smart and could tell when there were things he needed to watch out for.

* * *

When Gibbs entered the bullpen, he found DiNozzo and McGee waiting for him with Ziva. McGee's hair was damp, and he had changed clothes. "DiNozzo, McGee, weapon."

Tony turned to face the older agent. "McGee found a Baretta in a dumpster in an alley near the store. Abby checked the ballistics, and it is definitely our murder weapon. She also got fingerprints off the clip that belong to Sgt. Darvin."

McGee added, "The registration number was still on it. Abby's running it, now."

Gibbs nodded. "Good work." At that moment, the elevator to the labs dinged. Everyone turned at the sound.

Abby came running over the moment the doors slid open, excitement plain on her face. "Gibbs, I got the last person to be issued that gun. It was Lance Corporal Evan MacLean." Gibbs looked at her with disbelief on his face. "The gun never made it to weapons lock-up when his body was brought in. I checked it. And only the people in his platoon had access to his personal effects for most of the time prior to the preparations to take him home."

"Good work, Abby." The Forensic Specialist quickly hugged Gibbs before leaving. The senior agent turned back to Tony. "DiNozzo, get Darvin back here. Ziva, report." He now faced the Mossad Officer.

Ziva picked up the paper she had taken her notes on. "The Office of Command Security told me that, besides the MPs, anyone over the rank of 2nd Lieutenant can have access to some of the information about internal base security. The higher the rank, the more information they have access to."

Gibbs nodded impatiently. "And...?"

Ziva sighed. She was getting to it! "There are maybe a dozen officers at the main offices likely to have a file on the ghost shield. All of them will be in meetings all day today. I will try them again in the morning."

Gibbs ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Then, he turned to DiNozzo, who hung up the phone in obvious self-satisfaction. "Well?"

Tony grinned. "Sgt. Darvin will be here in twenty minutes."

* * *

Sergeant Robert Darvin sat in Interrogation, waiting impatiently for someone to come talk to him. He was brought here almost a half hour ago, and he had yet to find out why! All he'd been told on the phone was that the agents had more questions for him. He looked up at the mirror, which he knew hid an observation room. "You know, there's no point in my being here if you're all going to just study me while I sit here."

Standing up, he approached the mirror. "Agent DiNozzo said you had questions. If you won't ask them, this is all just a waste of time!" On the last word, he slammed his hand on the mirror. Then, he turned around and headed to the door leading to the hall.

That was when the door finally opened, Agent Gibbs entering with a file folder. The older man shut the door, then looked at Darvin. "Sit down, Sergeant."

Reluctantly, the Marine returned to his vacated chair. Gibbs sat opposite him, opening the folder in front of him. "I'd like to start with the death of Lance Corporal Evan MacLean." At Darvin's confused expression, the agent elaborated. "Tell me what happened. All the details."

Uncertain of what Gibbs was trying to learn, Darvin told him, "Well, Evan was sent to make our company's regular communication with another company..."

Gibbs cut in. "Who suggested that he make that delivery?"

"Sir?" At the agent's Look, Darvin relented. "I did."

Gibbs nodded. "Go on."

Robert leaned on the table as he continued. "Well, about halfway to his destination, he was killed by sniper fire. When he didn't arrive at his destination on time, the captain of the other company sent someone to find out why the dispatch hadn't arrived.

"A squad arrived at company headquarters a couple of hours after Evan left. They had Evan's body with them."

Gibbs slid out a sheet of paper from the folder. "What about Evan's personal effects?"

Darvin shook his head in bewilderment. "Everything he carried in the field was present and accounted for."

"Including his Baretta?"

"Yes." Darvin had no idea where this was going.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "So, why do we have a Baretta, retrieved from a dumpster near MacLean's store, that's stamped with a serial number last registered to Evan?" Darvin could only shrug. "Your fingerprints were on the clip."

Darvin stared. "What?"

Gibbs nodded. "Oh yes. This gives me enough evidence to hold you as a suspect. Unless, of course, there's something you want to add." Darvin shook his head firmly. "Alright, then. Make yourself comfortable, Sergeant. I'll be back." He rose from the chair and headed to the door. Darvin could only stare after him in shock.

* * *

That night, Danny arrived at NCIS in ghost form. Agent Gibbs waited for him in the bullpen, perched on his desk and looking out the window. The agent nodded in greeting as the ghost phased into the room. "Danny, glad you could make it."

Danny alighted in front of the man. "Agent Gibbs." He looked around. "So, where are we doing this?" The two were the only ones present.

Gibbs rose and led Danny to the stairs. "We're going to meet the sketch artist in the conference room upstairs. When we're done, I'd like to ask you a few more questions."

Danny followed, and thought over Gibbs' statement. He recalled Jazz's concerns that morning. He would be worried if he was Danny _Fenton_, shy and already having answered everything. But now, he was Danny _Phantom_, bold and mysterious. "Okay."

They entered the conference room to see a young man about Agent McGee's age sitting at the head of the table. The young agent had a sketch pad and a number of pencils in front of him. He looked up from arranging his supplies as Danny and Gibbs entered, starting when he caught sight of the teen. "What's with the white hair and bright green eyes?"

Gibbs moved to the chair on the younger agent's immediate left, and waited to see how Danny would answer. He was curious himself, but Danny had an annoying habit of answering without answering.

With a pained smile, Danny said, "I've been known to blend in as a throwback from the '80s."

The sketch artist appeared satisfied with this, but Gibbs _had_ to know. Leaning closer to Danny, he asked, "How do you know that?"

Danny answered wryly, "You wouldn't believe some of the things I've seen as a ghost." To himself, he thought, 'I should probably thank Clockwork for that vision from the past.' Then under his breath, he muttered, "The one good thing about having scientist parents: alternative timelines – totally valid excuse."

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully, then indicated the chair opposite him. "Have a seat, Danny."

Danny joined the two men at the table, taking the offered seat. The sketch artist picked up a pencil and the sketch pad, and asked, "So, to start, did you happen to notice whether he was white, black, Asian, or whatever?"

Danny hesitated. He rarely paid attention to that kind of stuff, but he realized it would affect how the man was drawn. "He was white."

"Okay. Go ahead." The artist waited for Danny to begin.

"Well, he had an oval face, but a little rounder than true oval. Yeah, that's it. All of his features were evenly spaced. Um... I didn't really see his eyes. His nose was straight and kind of flat on top. His mouth was mostly settled into a frown. His hair was brown; a couple inches shorter than mine."

As Danny spoke, the sketch artist rapidly worked out a rough sketch of the man's face. When he was done, he showed it to Danny, who studied it. With only a few minor corrections, the sketch was ready. Danny nodded at the completed sketch in satisfaction. "That's the man I saw."

Gibbs turned in his seat to face the younger agent more fully. "Thanks for your time. Get that sketch ready for distribution."

"Yes, sir." The sketch artist put his supplies away and rose, the sketch and his case under one arm. He reached out a hand to Danny. "Nice to meet you."

Danny took his hand. "Likewise." The teen watched him leave the room before turning back to Agent Gibbs, who had the case file open in front of him.

"So, Danny, I just need a little more information on what you saw last night." The agent scanned through the paper until he found what he wanted. "The man you saw: was he wearing gloves?"

Danny nodded at the logic of the question. "No. He was just wearing black clothes."

Gibbs nodded as he made a note. "The office he was in: what side of the building was it on?"

The ghost teen thought back. "The side facing the street. The MPs weren't really watching the building."

Gibbs made another note. "What floor?"

Danny had to think again. "Um... It was the sixth floor. The third window from the right as you face the building."

Gibbs was impressed at the ghost's observation skills. Looking at the ghost, he said, "Thank you, Danny." When the boy went to rise, he added, "That wasn't all I wanted to discuss, Danny."

Danny settled back into his seat. "What is it?"

Gibbs sat back in his seat. "Well, I've been coming across some strange things. I just want to tell you about it, and you can just listen. Alright?"

Danny was starting to worry, but there was no real reason to object. Gibbs hadn't said specifically what he wanted to discuss. "Go ahead."

Gibbs studied the teen's face as he spoke. "Well, the first oddity was a witness named Danny Fenton, who was buried under a heavy display case and came out without even a bruise. This teen somehow knows more about ghosts than his own ghost expert parents. Yet he objects to his parents discussing their theories on ghosts, or one ghost in particular: you."

Danny was very uncomfortable, now. He couldn't _possibly_ be going _there_, could he?

The agent continued his speech. "This would have been easily ignored if other sources hadn't also left hints of something strange. Danny's sister, Jazz, kept steering the conversation away from their parents' direction, and didn't want them to upset her little brother. And this morning, she told me some odd things about her parents' inventions.

"Coupled with this is what Jack Fenton told my ME about his theories." The man looked Danny in the eyes. "Can a ghost really heal more rapidly than a human?"

Danny shook his head, bewildered. "Uh... yes."

Gibbs nodded and crossed his arms. "Are you going to tell me, or do I have to tell you?"

Danny stared at him in dismay. He was worried that he knew where Gibbs was heading. But the teen could only shake his head. He _couldn't_ tell him the truth.

Gibbs sighed. He knew it wouldn't be easy. "I had a feeling it would go this way. Very well." He closed the folder he had barely glanced at since they got on this topic. "Danny Fenton is Danny Phantom. Don't bother denying it, kid. I know it's true." He leaned forward. "I'm not gonna turn you in, Danny. My main concern is my case."

Danny slumped forward. "You won't tell anyone, will you, Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs shook his head firmly. "This has nothing to do with my case. I am under no obligation to mention this in any reports. The Guys in White may be annoyed that I had you as a witness and let you go, but it's not like I could stop a ghost from leaving when he chooses."

Danny grinned. He could tell that the agent was the kind of person who doesn't play well with others. He sat up in his chair. "Thanks, sir."

Gibbs' expression softened. "You're welcome. But I am curious about something." The teen gave him a questioning look. "If you don't mind telling me, I'd like to know how a human wound up with ghost powers."

Danny considered the request. Considering how much the man already knew, there was no harm in telling him. He'd already promised not to tell anyone else. "Well, apparently, I'm what ghosts call a 'halfa', half a human and half a ghost. The whole story takes time, so I'll try to keep it short.

"My parents built a device called a 'Ghost Portal'. It opens a door into the Ghost Zone, where ghosts exist. When they plugged it in, it didn't turn on and they decided it must not work. Later on, I went into it and accidentally hit the on switch, which was _inside_ the machine for some reason. I got zapped with electricity and ectoplasm. When I woke up, I had ghost powers."

Gibbs stared at the teenager in front of him. He understood everything the kid said, but it was so unbelievable. "That's quite a story, Danny. And your parents have no clue about this?"

Danny shook his head. "Nope. And I intend to keep it that way for a while." True, they learned his secret in the Reality Gauntlet incident, but he'd made sure they didn't remember _that_ little adventure.

The man studied the ghost boy. "How do you switch between this appearance and being human?" He was honestly curious about that.

Danny stood up. Thankfully, there were no windows he needed to worry about so no one else saw this. He stepped away from the table and started the white rings around his waist. They split, one going up and the other going down. His black and white uniform became his jeans and t-shirt, the boots turned into sneakers, his gloves vanished, his green eyes became blue, and his white hair turned black.

Gibbs was surprised at how obvious the disguise was. There was very little difference between Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom. How did people miss this? Then, he recalled the old 'Superman' comics. All one needed to conceal a secret identity was an attitude change to go with the change in costume. And a place to change where no one would see you.

Danny glanced at his watch to see that it was now 11:30. "I should probably get going now, Agent Gibbs. It's pretty late."

Gibbs looked at his own watch and noticed the time, as well. "I just want to know one last thing, Danny. Why are you so uncomfortable when your dad talks about Vlad Masters? I get the impression it's a lot more than not wanting to hear about when your parents were younger."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "The first time I met him at my parents' 20th year college reunion, he started out by hitting on Mom." He would not tell Gibbs any more than that.

Ah. That would explain the dislike. Gibbs nodded in understanding. "Thanks for your time, Danny. I appreciate the honesty." He rose from his seat and picked up his folder. "Good night." They shook hands again. Danny transformed back into Danny Phantom and flew out the ceiling, leaving Gibbs to walk back to his desk alone.


	8. Chapter 8: Revelations

A/N: Thank you to all of you have read and reviewed this fic. It has been a while since I last updated, what with real life getting complicated. In any case, I offer all of you hot chocolate as a thanks for your patience. This story now belongs to NINE communities! I don't know how I got on so many, but I'm grateful for the recognition. I also want to thank Miriam1 for being my beta and poking me about finishing this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Danny Phantom_, _NCIS_, or _Medium_.

Chapter 8: Revelations

The next morning found Gibbs at the Quantico base offices, talking to Lt. Commander Susan Lopez. Ziva and Tony were dusting the commander's office for fingerprints and fingerprinting her staff. There was some reluctance, at first, until they were told it was part of a murder investigation.

Gibbs studied the Latina officer as she answered his questions. "Who in your office has any access to information on the ghost shield?"

Commander Lopez started in surprise. "I'm the only one with a key to the drawer. And I keep it locked at all times." She studied the agent a moment. "Frankly, I think getting this 'ghost shield' is a waste of valuable resources. If ghosts _did_ exist, what could they possibly do? Scare us?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing you've never heard about events in Amity Park, IL over the last couple years?"

"Rumors, speculation, and mass hysteria," the younger Marine scoffed. "There are valid and perfectly reasonable explanations for everything they claim was done by ghosts."

The former Marine crossed his arms. "Including the complete disappearance of an entire town for several hours?" Now, he decided to get back on track with his questions. "In any case, I still have more questions to ask. First, do you have those keys on you at all times?"

"Yes. They never leave me except at home, when I keep them in a briefcase with a coded lock." Lopez was clearly embarrassed at Gibbs' response to her skepticism.

Gibbs made a quick note before continuing. "Have any unauthorized personnel expressed any interest in the new security system?"

Lopez carefully considered the question before answering. "No. Why should they? All base personnel are told what they need to know about internal base security."

Gibbs shuffled his papers a bit before answering. "Perhaps curiosity about what appears to be unnecessary changes. Or a fear for job security. Some of the men may be worried about how the security changes will affect the way they perform their duties."

The commander mulled over this for a bit. "I haven't had any inappropriate questions from anyone."

The agent nodded and pulled out the photo of Darvin and the sketch Danny had helped put together. "Do you know either of these men?"

Lopez studied the photo first. "I don't know this man. I've seen him around the base at times, but I've never been introduced to him." Then, she looked at the sketch. Surprised, she quickly looked back up at Gibbs. "This is Sergeant Martin Lockerby. He's been assigned to the Office of Military Personnel since he finished Basic. Specifically, the section that keeps track of troop movements in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Gibbs wrote this down and asked, "Has he been around your office recently?"

She shook her head. "Not that I've seen, but I'm not here all the time."

"Would he have a legitimate reason to be here?"

"Yes. There are all sorts of reasons for Military Personnel to send any number of their staff to any office in this building, or even on the base." Lopez stopped herself. "What's going on, Agent Gibbs?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out, Commander," Gibbs told her thoughtfully.

* * *

When the three agents returned to the bullpen, they found McGee busily sorting through records. Gibbs ordered, "DiNozzo, Ziva, take the fingerprints to Abby."

Tony, who had been about to tease the younger agent, slumped his shoulders. "Yes, Boss," he responded dejectedly, dumping his bag at his desk before heading to the elevator.

Ziva simply nodded in acknowledgement before she also deposited her bag at her desk and followed Tony with the evidence.

Once they were gone, Gibbs turned to face McGee. "What do you have?"

McGee finished up quickly, grateful for the reprieve from Tony's distracting chatter. Transferring his data to the large display, he stood up. "Well, Boss, I ran the sketch you gave me. The closest match was this man." He clicked the remote and a photo of a young Marine in dress uniform appeared. A second click brought up his service record. "His name is..."

"Sergeant Martin Lockerby," Gibbs interrupted him.

Startled, McGee turned to the older man in confusion. With no explanation forthcoming, Tim continued. "Lockerby enlisted shortly after 9/11. He was in Basic with both Darvin and Evan MacLean. The three of them tended to take leave around the same time." Another click of the remote brought up more records. "After they completed Basic training, Lockerby and Darvin continued to request similar leave schedules. But MacLean specifically requested his schedule to be slightly out of sync with theirs."

"What about deployment?" Gibbs asked.

McGee opened another document. "He's been assigned to the Office of Military Personnel since October 2002. He's never been deployed overseas, but his section is in regular communication with every unit currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lockerby's job is to help keep track of the location of units currently deployed in Iraq."

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully. "Good work, McGee." He turned and, on his way to the elevator, called out, "Get Lockerby in here for questioning."

McGee ran to his desk, picking up the phone as he answered, "On it, Boss." He looked up to ask the older man where he was going, but Gibbs was already gone. Tim shook his head in resignation as he made the phone call.

* * *

Gibbs came into Abby's lab in time for a fingerprint match to flash up on Abby's computer. The Goth, standing in front of the screen, turned around and jumped in surprise. "Gibbs! You're right on time." She turned back to her screen as Gibbs approached.

"So what'd you get?"

Abby clicked her mouse on the fingerprint match, and a familiar face popped up. "Only one set of fingerprints from Commander Lopez's office didn't match either the commander _or _her staff. It belongs to Sergeant Martin Lockerby."

Gibbs smiled. "Good work, Abby."

Abby frowned in thought. "The one thing that gets me is how soon after the murder Lockerby went into Commander Lopez's office. It _can't_ be a coincidence that the two events were so close together."

Gibbs' eyes widened, and he suddenly gave her a quick peck on the cheek before heading for the door. He threw a final "Thanks, Abs" over his shoulder just before the lab doors closed on him.

Abby stared at the door in confusion. "What did I say?" Finally, she shook her head and turned back to her computer. Gibbs would figure out this case. It was just a matter of time.

* * *

Gibbs entered Autopsy to find Ducky reviewing a case file. "Hey, Duck," he greeted his old friend.

Ducky looked up from his work. "Hello, Jethro. I wasn't expecting a visit from you. What seems to be on your mind?" The doctor carefully closed the file and turned his chair around to look more directly at the younger man.

Gibbs leaned against the empty autopsy table, his arms crossed. "Just felt a need to talk things out, Ducky. I've got a lot of dead-end leads, right now."

Ducky looked up at him in concern. "What sorts of leads? You have a suspect for each crime, don't you?"

Gibbs sighed in annoyance. "Yeah. But the two crimes are linked in some way, and I can't figure out _how_." He straightened, and began to pace. "And I _still_ don't have a motive for them, either."

Ducky watched him for several seconds before responding. "You say the crimes are linked in some way. What led you to this conclusion?"

Gibbs didn't stop his pacing as he answered. "Lockerby went looking for the information on the ghost shield within days of the murder of Corporal David MacLean. Darvin asked MacLean about the ghost shield before killing him. And Darvin and Lockerby are close friends. There's evidence that they may have been in communication recently, but no concrete connection. And both are involved in communications. There's so much connecting them, but there's no obvious motive."

Ducky nodded in thought. "Motives are rarely obvious. You simply have yet to discover it. Perhaps if you knew where to look..."

"That's the whole problem, Ducky!" Gibbs interrupted. "I _don't_ know where to look."

Ducky noted that Gibbs' frantic pacing had slowed. "Are you feeling calmer, now?"

Gibbs considered a moment before nodding. "Yeah. I do."

Ducky stood up as Gibbs came back towards him again. "Very good. Now, Jethro, as much as I appreciate the honor of being a sounding board, you don't normally seek out such assistance. What's _really_ bothering you?"

Gibbs stopped to take a deep breath before he answered. "The clue that led me to Lockerby came from Danny Phantom." Ducky's eyes widened. "Since I've reached an impasse, I've found myself hoping the kid will uncover something I can use."

Ducky was rather amused. "He _does_ seem to be cropping up all over the place, doesn't he? All of the Fentons have spoken of him. And now, he comes to see you. I wonder what's _really_ going on..." He studied Gibbs, whose impassive face gave nothing away, before continuing. "I suppose it's not too improbable to expect him to return, but he _is_ rather unpredictable. It would be far more prudent to devote one's time to the resources currently readily available."

Gibbs nodded. "You're right, Ducky." He pulled out his cell phone and called DiNozzo. "DiNozzo, have you gotten anything useful from Lockerby?"

"Afraid not, Boss." Tony's voice sounded irritated. "He refuses to answer any questions."

Gibbs began pacing again. "Alright, then. You, Ziva, and McGee are going to start going through every scrap of information you can find on both Darvin _and_ Lockerby. None of you leaves until we find out their motives and how they're connected."

"But, Boss," Tony whined. "I've got a date, tonight."

The senior agent raised an eyebrow, though he knew Tony couldn't see it. "Cancel it."

Tony sighed. "Yes, Boss."

* * *

That night, Danny went back on patrol. His parents had activated the Ghost Shield and the teen figured the other ghost might still be in the area. Flying over the base, he was brought up short when his ghost sense went off. The young hero quickly identified the direction and flew off in search of the unknown ghost.

Near the edge of the northwest quadrant of the base, Danny heard a male voice cursing a blue streak. He raised an eyebrow at the language as he searched out the source. At the base of the ghost shield, on the road to D.C., stood the ghost of a young man in his early twenties, dressed in desert camo combat fatigues, beating his fists against the glowing green dome.

Danny flew over to the ghost, hovered slightly above him, and tapped him on the shoulder. As the ghost whirled to face him, Danny crossed his arms and demanded, "All right, who are you and what are you doing here?"

The other ghost stopped in the midst of crouching into a fighting stance at seeing the teen. "Who are _you_?"

Danny was puzzled by the ghost's reaction. All ghosts knew who he was. How did this one manage not to hear of him? He decided he'd be more likely to get answers if he gave some himself. "I'm Danny Phantom, Amity Park's hero, and the one who stops ghosts from creating chaos. The Fentons' ghost sensory equipment picked up two ghosts: me, and, since you're the only other ghost here, you. You were at Mr. MacLean's store. What were you doing there?"

The soldier laughed a bit. "You're a hero, huh? Well, I'm a hero, too, in my own way. But, to answer your question, I'm Evan MacLean. David MacLean was my father."

Danny's eyes widened in surprise. "So why were you attacking humans?"

Evan stood up and crossed his arms. "I was _trying_ to stop Bobby." His face fell. "Not that it worked."

Danny scratched his head in confusion. "But... I thought Bobby was your friend."

The Marine's face darkened in anger. "We _were_ friends. Until I discovered what he was doing. He realized I knew, of course. And if that wasn't bad enough, Bobby was responsible for my death."

Danny hovered in front of Evan, stunned for a moment. Recovering from the shock, Danny asked, "What was he doing?"

Evan sighed. "He was stealing military secrets and selling them to the enemy. I discovered it. And when my investigation became too inconvenient, he got rid of me the way he knew best. I decided I wouldn't rest until justice was served."

Danny took a few moments to absorb this. He could understand the need for justice. It was what he fought for. Then a thought occurred to him. "Why don't you tell Agent Gibbs?"

Evan dropped his arms to his sides, staring at the teen. "Who's Agent Gibbs?"

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "He works for NCIS. He's investigating your dad's murder."

Evan considered this and looked back at Danny. "Why would he listen to anything I say? This isn't _Medium_."

Danny smiled, recalling his last conversation with the agent. "Agent Gibbs will listen to any witness. He won't care that you're a ghost. I've helped him out a lot in this case."

Evan raised an eyebrow, then turned to look at the ghost shield he'd been trying to get through. "Okay, so how do you plan on getting us to D.C. for me to tell them anything?"

Danny pulled out his Fenton Thermos, emptied before they left Amity Park. "With this."

Now, Evan stared. "How is a thermos supposed to help?"

"It's not just a thermos," Danny explained. "It's a ghost containment device. You'll travel inside it. When we get to NCIS, I'll let you out and introduce you to Agent Gibbs."

Evan still looked skeptical. "How are _you_ getting through to get me there?"

Danny grinned and turned human, to the shock of the Marine ghost. "I'm a half-ghost. In my human form, I can go right through the ghost shield. Once I'm outside it, I can fly straight to NCIS."

It took Evan a few moments to recover. "How is that even possible? Are you dead or alive? Or are you... half dead?" He paused. "Does any of that even make sense?"

Danny was amused by the other ghost's reaction. But he also realized that this was the first ghost he'd met that had never heard of him. "Well, I'm very much alive. I just have ghost powers. Lots of powers. It's a half-ghost thing."

Evan considered the teen carefully. "Got it," he muttered. "Don't screw with the half-ghost teenager." Speaking louder, he asked, "Were you planning on joining the Marine Corps when you grow up?" He stopped. "_Can_ you grow up?"

Danny looked down at himself. "I certainly hope so. I hate being one of the shortest in my class. But my powers keep developing, so you never know." And the one person who might be able to give him an insight to any of this was his arch-enemy. Great. Anyway... Danny shook his head. "I'm actually planning to go into Astronomy."

Evan nodded. "NASA can always use a few good men."

Danny grinned. "That _is_ what I'm aiming for. So, shall we?" He held up the Thermos.

Evan looked at the device before nodding. "Alright. Let's do it."

Danny uncapped the Thermos and aimed it at Evan. Activating it, he sucked Evan into the ghost containment device. Once it was recapped, Danny walked through the ghost shield, turned ghost, and flew to D.C. to see Agent Gibbs again.


	9. Chapter 9: The Motive

A/N: My thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, and added this story (and me!) To their assorted lists. I offer macaroons and grape juice to all of you. I also offer gluten-free mandelbrodt to my friend and beta Miriam1 for all of her help in writing and preparing this chapter for publication.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Danny Phantom_, _NCIS_, _Mary Poppins_, _Dungeons and Dragons_ RPG, _The Man Who Knew Too Much_, or _Ghostbusters_.

Chapter 9: The Motive

The team spent hours poring over every aspect of the case. At 6:00, Tony finally threw his hands up. "There's nothing here, Boss. I know you want us to go through all of this," indicating the files and the computers, "but I want to go check out Darvin's favorite bar."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "No drinking on duty, DiNozzo."

Tony crossed his arms, huffing in annoyance. "I'm not _going_ to be drinking. I have an idea that I want to look into about the fight Darvin had after he killed MacLean." A martyred look crossed his features. "Honestly, why do you always assume the worst?"

Gibbs answered, "Do you really want me to answer that, Tony?" Tony's only response was a look of injured innocence. Gibbs smirked knowingly at the younger man. Then, he considered the request. "Alright," he decided, "go ahead. But you go straight there and come straight back. No detours."

"Yes!" DiNozzo did a victory dance. "Thanks, Boss." He snagged his bag from behind his desk and ran to the elevator before Gibbs could have a chance to change his mind.

McGee watched Tony leave and commented, "Huh. Guess he had a lot more on his mind than his cancelled date."

Ziva chuckled. "He _does_ have his uses, as hormonal as he is."

McGee grinned. "You're right. Even Tony has his moments."

* * *

When Tony returned three and a half hours later, he was strutting like a peacock. At the questioning look from Gibbs, the younger agent grinned as he reported. "I talked to the guys at the bar. Darvin and Lockerby are _both_ regulars there. They meet a lot when Darvin's got leave. In fact," here his grin broadened, "they met right after MacLean's murder. Remember the fight he had? The fight was with Lockerby."

Gibbs considered this. "Anyone hear what the fight was about?"

Tony shook his head. "Not a one, Boss. The whole conversation was muffled, at best."

The senior agent nodded, satisfied with his agent but annoyed at the lack of information, before turning to the others. "McGee, financial records."

McGee turned from Tony to his computer. "Well, both of them have some very large deposits. They were made from international accounts, but I can't trace the origins of any of them. Whoever set up the accounts bounced the transfer signal off so many satellites, the signal is impossible to trace."

Gibbs sighed and turned to Ziva. "Where are all of these accounts based, Ziva?"

Ziva looked at her own computer. "They are everywhere, Gibbs. Some are in the Caymans. Some are Swiss bank accounts. A few turned out to be in Aruba and Guam. Account holders do not necessarily use their real names, and could be from anywhere in the world."

Gibbs stood up and began to pace. He _still_ didn't have a motive _or_ a firm link between his suspects.

That was when the elevator dinged, and Abby came running out, clutching a sheaf of papers and barely able to contain her excitement. "Gibbs, I have it! I have the link we were looking for!" She stopped in front of Gibbs, nearly bouncing in one place.

Gibbs put a hand on her shoulder. "Alright, Abs. What did you get?"

Abby took a breath before showing Gibbs the stacks of paper she carried. "I have, here, a number of e-mails Lockerby and Darvin sent to each other in the last few days." She pulled one out dated the day before. "This one discusses the security system. Lockerby tells Darvin that it's being installed by experts from Illinois. But the specs made no sense to him. He compared it to the records in the patent office, but it was like Greek."

Gibbs interrupted her. "Greek?"

Abby grinned. "Not _real_ Greek. Lockerby explains that the jargon made no sense at all. The people at the patent office didn't understand it, either." She pulled out printouts of schematics and other papers. "I went to the patent office, too, just to be sure. This stuff is _amazing_!" She started babbling about the paranormal, parabolas, and lots of other technical details. She was interrupted by a strange chill in the air.

The whole team turned to see a white-haired teen with bright green eyes, wearing a black and white Hazmat suit, floating in front of the windows. Abby brightened at the sight of the boy. "Hey, Danny! I _love_ your spin on the Goth look! The black clothes, 'cause black is, like, the _religion_ of Goth. The white hair for that washed-out look, 'cause most people go for the white powder and black lipstick, but this works, too! And... color contacts, right?" The hovering teen stared at her.

Tim, Tony, and Ziva widened their eyes. Ziva spoke for all three. "Abby, you are speaking as though you are talking to Danny _Fenton_."

Abby rolled her eyes and gestured at Danny. "Well, _yeah_."

Tony shook his head. "Abby, what are you talking about? That's Danny _Phantom_."

Abby turned to face Tony. "How do you guys _not_ see this?" She turned back to Danny. "Why didn't you _tell_ me you were a Goth?"

Danny slumped in defeat. "I'm not, but Goths _would_ love the look. Well, at least, Sam does."

Abby was puzzled. "How could you say that?"

The teen touched down and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Agent DiNozzo's right. I'm not a Goth. I'm a ghost. I'm Danny Phantom."

Abby's face brightened in excitement. "Danny Fenton. Danny Phantom. You're the same person!"

"Yeah. You're right about that," Danny agreed.

McGee, confused, asked, "How is that even _possible_?"

Tony settled on his desk. "Yeah. I mean, you'd have to be, like, half dead and half alive."

Danny sighed. "In a way, I kind of am. I didn't _exactly_ die, though." He ran a gloved hand through his hair. "It's kind of complicated."

Ziva studied Danny. "But how can you be a ghost if you did not die?"

Danny looked around at his audience. "Do you want a technical explanation or a spiritual explanation?"

Ziva considered this before coming to a decision. "The technical explanation is fine."

Danny nodded. "I'm not half dead. I'm a half-ghost." He paused. "I know it sounds like a contradiction, but not all ghosts are spirits of the dead. Some are creatures of ectoplasm. So, when my parents built the Ghost Portal, I accidentally turned it on and got zapped, my DNA was changed, and I woke up a half-ghost."

Abby looked impressed. "That is _so_ cool!"

Tony had a weirded-out look. "Whoa! Unbelievable!"

McGee cocked his head to one side as he looked at Danny. "A high-voltage electrical shock, and it didn't kill you? That's very rare. And it certainly doesn't alter genetic structures. How would something like that work?"

Danny became very uncomfortable. "Well, um..." He stuttered a bit, trying to come up with a way to explain, then gave up and turned pleading eyes on Gibbs. "Agent Gibbs, help!"

Gibbs turned and glared at McGee and Tony. "Guys, drop it."

The whole team turned to stare at their boss. Tony, not wanting to let it go, asked, "Boss, you knew this already? Why didn't you tell us?"

Gibbs folded his arms over his chest. "It's Danny's secret. Not my place to tell."

Abby gave Gibbs a hopeful look. "Will you tell us more, later?"

Gibbs smiled ambiguously. "Maybe." Then, he was all business. "In any case, it's getting late, and there's a reason Danny came here." He turned to the teen. "What's on your mind?"

Danny straightened into a more confident posture. "Right. I understand you guys need a motive to get the charges to stick."

A puzzled look crossed Gibbs' face momentarily. "That's right."

Danny grinned. "Well, I've found a witness who can give you the motive."

The whole team looked around. Speaking for them all, Gibbs asked, "Where is your witness?"

When Danny reached behind him, Tony jumped up and began to fumble for his weapon. "What are you doing?"

Danny looked at the nervous agent. "I'm just getting my witness." Tony stopped searching for his gun and nodded cautiously.

Danny now pulled out the Fenton Thermos, to the surprise of the whole team. "He's right here."

Tony stared at the innocuous-looking item. "Where did that come from?"

The teen held his free hand palm out toward the former cop. "Relax. It's a ghost containment device. As to where it came from..." He gave DiNozzo an anxious look. "Would you believe me if I said it came from a sort of ghostly pocket of n-space?"

Tony looked at Danny, confused. "N-space?"

Danny sighed. "It's a sort of pocket where I carry... Well, I don't always have my hands free, you know!"

McGee's face lit up. "Indeterminate space! Like a Bag of Holding!"

Everyone but Abby turned to stare at McGee. The geek quickly explained. "It's a bag that can hold just about anything of any size and shape. You just reach in and grab whatever it is you're looking for."

Tony's face lit up in recognition. "Like Mary Poppins' carpetbag!"

To everyone's surprise, Gibbs nodded in recognition. "Alright, I understand now." Seeing the shock on the team's faces, he said, "What? It's Disney... old Disney." He turned back to the half-ghost. "So what do you have for us, Danny?"

Danny nodded, uncapped the Thermos, and hit the 'release' button, aiming at a spot to one side of him. Everyone stared as a blue light shot out, coalescing into a young man wearing desert camo combat fatigues. The ghost turned to Danny with an excited look on his face. "Danny, that was a trip!"

Abby stared in awe. "Another ghost?"

The Marine turned to face the Forensic Specialist. "That's me."

Gibbs straightened up, lowering his arms to his sides. "Lance Corporal Evan MacLean."

MacLean snapped to attention, facing the former Marine. "Reporting for duty, sir."

"At ease." Gibbs stood in thought for a moment. "Where would you prefer we talk, Marine?" Then, before Evan could come up with an answer, the agent turned to Danny. "Danny, what's the usual procedure for questioning ghosts?"

Danny realized he was the _only_ authority on this. "Well, how about the room where you asked _me_ questions?" Turning to Evan, the teen asked, "Do you want some coffee, Evan?"

Everyone stared at the boy in confusion, except for Gibbs. The senior agent learned very quickly in this investigation that with ghosts, one should expect the unexpected. Evan felt a bit off-balance. He was a ghost. He'd never thought about being hungry or thirsty as a ghost. A bit uncertainly, he answered Danny's question. "Yes, please. Thank you."

Tony asked the question every human in the room was wondering. "Ghosts... can eat?"

Danny crossed his arms in annoyance. "Slimer ring a bell?"

Tony covered his eyes and groaned. "I deserved that."

Ziva chuckled as everyone trooped upstairs to the conference room. She had never seen anyone use a movie reference _against_ Tony before. Far too often, anyone else using a movie reference was helping Tony along in his juvenile obsession.

They all took seats around the conference table: Abby snagged the seat at the head of the table, Gibbs sat to her right, Evan took the seat to her left, Danny sat next to Evan, Tony sat next to Gibbs, McGee sat next to Danny, and Ziva sat next to Tony.

Gibbs put a pad and a pencil on the table, and faced Evan. "So how is it that we were blessed with your presence this evening?"

Evan sighed. "Mostly because Bobby killed me. Because I learned too much. And I decided I wasn't going to rest until justice was served." His last sentence was spoken with determination.

Abby's eyes began to tear up. "He killed you? Your best friend?"

Tony turned in his seat to more fully face the ghost. "You knew too much?" His brows furrowed. "You were the real-life version of _The Man Who Knew Too Much_." Gibbs suddenly reached up and smacked the younger agent in the back of the head. "Ow!"

Gibbs nodded at Evan to continue, everyone ignoring Tony as he rubbed the spot Gibbs hit. The ghostly Marine looked at the table to gather his thoughts after Tony's outburst. "I almost knew it was gonna happen. Almost _watched_ it happen. But it didn't used to be like this."

Picking up his pencil, Gibbs asked, "So what _was_ it like?"

Evan considered his answer for a moment. "Where should I start... sir?"

"Start with when you met Sergeant Darvin," Gibbs suggested.

The ghost nodded. "Well, I met Bobby my first day in Basic. We became friends that first week. Along with another member of our training unit, Martin Lockerby." Gibbs and the rest of the team nodded as their findings were confirmed. "Pretty soon, the three of us were taking our leaves together. We read each other the letters we got in mail call, shared the care packages we received... I introduced them to my folks when we completed training.

"Bobby and I were assigned to the same unit, and we were deployed to Iraq in Spring of '03. Martin, a communications expert, was sent to the Office of Military Personnel in Quantico.

"After our first weekend pass, I started to notice Bobby acting oddly."

Gibbs asked, "Oddly? Oddly... how?"

"At first, it seemed innocent. He'd buy little trinkets and things, like the kind you'd buy for a girl, and disappear for long periods of time. The weird thing was, Bobby didn't have a girlfriend back home."

Tony cut in. "Getting trinkets for a girl without a girl back home? Interesting. How long was that going on?"

"It was like this for several months," Evan answered.

Ziva frowned. "I was not aware that fraternizing among military personnel was looked well upon."

Gibbs turned to look at the Mossad Officer. "It's not."

Tony peaked his eyebrows. "Really, Boss? That can't be right. I mean, they're a long way from home. They gotta talk to _somebody_. Surely they can't object to some innocent fun, can they?"

Gibbs cocked his head, about to tell Tony what he could do with his 'innocent fun', when Evan said, "That was my thought, and what I thought Bobby had in mind. Then, it started to seem less innocent.

"Bobby began to spend more time alone. When we had weekend passes, he'd abandon me in the marketplace for up to an hour. He'd return from these excursions and insist on treating me to something to eat at these expensive places we'd never have considered going to before. I knew something was up. He obviously had access to a lot more money than his salary provided."

Gibbs interrupted him. "Why didn't you report your suspicions?"

Evan folded his arms on the table in front of him. "Because I wanted to know what he was doing before I made a report. I didn't have anything but suspicions. I needed to give some idea of what investigators would need to look for, or my suspicions would be dismissed."

There were nods from all the agents. "Go on," Gibbs told the ghost.

Evan took a breath. "Well, when we first arrived, we were warned away from getting too friendly with the locals. Things were turbulent, and we had no way of knowing who was an insurrectionist or supported them."

Ziva nodded. "That makes a lot of sense."

"Bobby seemed to have gotten very close with a good number of the locals. He wanted to introduce me to a few, but we were given strict orders about our interactions."

Tony commented, "That _can't_ be good."

Evan grimaced. "No kidding." He furrowed his brows. "I remember I saw him writing an e-mail to Martin a few hours after the last time he tried to talk me into a meeting.

"Anyway, that was when I requested a different leave schedule. I could still keep an eye on what Bobby was doing, but I didn't have to rely on his company for my whole leave. And when we came home, I noticed Martin and Bobby had gotten a lot closer. Both of them were very secretive and had an unusual amount of money to burn. I investigated as much as I could, but it was a slow process to get what I needed. They were both very good at covering their tracks."

"We noticed," McGee commented wryly. "I was trying to trace some suspicious bank deposits and the transfer signals were bounced off so many satellites, I couldn't figure out where they came from."

"Well, Martin always had a thing for communications. But between all this extra money floating around and all the hiding going on, I was pretty worried about what they were up to. Good Marines were dying in suspicious circumstances. We'd have a mission, and we'd lose people someplace we'd have had no trouble in for a couple of weeks. And we weren't the only unit with mysterious deaths, either. Guys I knew in other units told me about similar things happening."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes, made a note, then said, "Go on."

"A few days before I died, I had gathered enough evidence to realize that Bobby and Martin were selling information on troop movements. Combined with the deaths of so many soldiers, I was sure the information was going to the insurrectionists. I made copies of everything and mailed the evidence to Dad with a message telling him to get it to the Office of Military Personnel."

Tony nodded. "Good move."

"But by then, it was too late. I'd planned on waiting a week before approaching the Captain, to give Dad a chance to do what I asked. Bobby had discovered my investigations, though, and set me up. He recommended me for our regular communication with another unit. The route I used was our regular route, and Bobby had sold that information already. I discovered afterwards that he had suggested to his contacts that it might be a good time to send a sniper to cover a point about halfway down the route."

Danny grimaced. "Ouch. Sorry to hear it, Evan."

"Thanks, Danny." Danny patted Evan's hand. With the boosted morale, Evan said, "Bobby found the originals of my collected evidence while going through my personal effects and destroyed it all. When Bobby was finally rotated home for leave, I went along. I came to Dad's store while Bobby was being debriefed and found out that Dad left the package I'd sent in a drawer under the register. I'd sent it to the store because I didn't want to upset Mom with the information in the package. Dad never opened it. He'd learned of my death the day the package arrived. He stayed home for a week, and forgot the package was there."

Tears flowed down Abby's cheeks. The rest sat in stunned silence. Gibbs' expression hardened upon hearing of a Marine committing treason. The senior agent asked, "So what happened the day your father died?"

Evan sighed. "Martin told Bobby about a new security system being installed on the base. They were worried it might affect their enterprise and decided to find out more about it. But they couldn't probe too deeply with their superiors, or they'd get suspicious."

Gibbs nodded. "Go on."

"Bobby suggested seeing Dad. While he'd retired a corporal, he was still friends with active Marines who'd become high-ranking officers. Bobby hoped Dad would request a favor from one these friends to get the information they needed."

Tony quipped, "Apparently, Darvin thought his lack of morals was catching."

Evan grinned, despite the seriousness of the conversation. A bit more soberly, he continued. "I followed Bobby to the store and watched him try to wheedle information out of Dad. Of course, Dad mentioned that he didn't have the pull with his buddies Bobby thought he did. And then, Dad figured out that Bobby was doing something he shouldn't. Bobby drew the gun, something crashed in the back..."

Danny cut in. "Sorry. That was me. I've seen humans pull guns on ghosts before. I've never seen it... on a human... Except on TV."

Abby jumped up and came around the table to hug the distraught teen. "Oh, Danny!"

Evan gave Danny and Abby a minute to release their tension. "You poor kid. No kid should have to have seen that." He shook his head, took a breath, and said, "And I tried to stop him."

McGee's eyes widened. "_That's_ why all that merchandise was flying!"

Evan nodded. "Yes. I hoped the stuff hitting him would keep him from aiming straight." He dropped his gaze to the table. "Unfortunately, Bobby's just that good. He still killed my father." Evan looked up, eyes flashing red momentarily in anger, as he said, "So I tried to make enough noise to draw attention to the store. If someone came soon enough, Bobby would be arrested, at the least, for murder."

Abby asked, "So why hurt Danny?" The Goth had yet to return to her seat, and now hovered over the teen protectively.

Evan turned to face the young woman. "I didn't know he was there. My only concern was finding a way to stop Bobby." The Marine turned to the half-ghost beside him. "I _am_ sorry for whatever I did to you."

Danny put a hand on the man's arm. "No harm done, Evan." He grinned. "Ducky's probably still confused that I wasn't hurt when they found me, but other than that..."

Evan smiled sadly. Then, he turned back to Gibbs. "Anyway, when Bobby got away, I went after him. He dumped the gun in a dumpster in the alley down the block from the store."

McGee grimaced. "We know. I retrieved it yesterday. That's how we knew for sure that Darvin was the killer."

Evan nodded, grim determination in his eyes. "Well, I followed him to his favorite bar, where he met Martin for lunch."

Tony grinned. "Just came from there before Danny showed up." Then, annoyance marred his handsome features. "No one heard what they talked about, of course."

Evan's expression was triumphant. "Correction: no one _living_ heard their conversation. _I _heard every word, however." The agents straightened, Gibbs poised to take notes. "Bobby told Martin about the conversation with my father, and how Bobby had had to kill Dad. Martin, who already had quite a bit to drink, got angry. He said that killing _me_ was necessary to keep their secret, but killing _my father_ would draw undue attention. Bobby tried to explain that my father had figured out that Bobby was up to something, and it was only a matter of time before he came to the correct conclusion.

"Martin wasn't really listening. He kept his voice down, but he got more belligerent. He told Bobby that the investigation would draw attention to their enterprise. No matter how much Bobby told him they would be safe, Martin kept insisting they were in danger. Finally, he took a swing at Bobby. It was a short fight. Because Martin was so drunk by now, Bobby just had to hit him once to knock him out cold. He left right after that."

Gibbs nodded. "Thank you for your cooperation, Lance Corporal."

Evan straightened in his chair. "Your welcome, sir. But," he paused, perplexed, "how are you going to explain this in your reports?"

In unison, the four field agents responded, "Anonymous tip."

Tony added, "How else can we explain gaining critical evidence through assistance from the Beyond?"

Ziva groaned. Tony's answering laugh was interrupted by another head slap from Gibbs. "Enough, DiNozzo." The senior agent turned back to the two ghosts. "So which drawer is the evidence in?"

Evan nodded. "It's under the register, two drawers down, right side of the drawer. It's still in the shipping envelope."

Gibbs made a note of this. "Thanks again." He stood up, the rest of his team and the two ghosts following suit. He shook hands with both ghosts, then said, "We'll be wrapping this case up tomorrow. Good luck."

Evan nodded again in thanks. Danny grinned and answered, "Thanks, Agent Gibbs." He glanced at his watch, then, and gasped, "Oh, crud, I've gotta go." Waving to everyone, he flew up, and through the ceiling.

Once Danny was gone, Evan sighed. "I'd better go, too. I'm sure you've got a lot to do tomorrow." With that, Evan also left.

The team stared at the ceiling the two ghosts just flew through for a couple of minutes. Abby was in awe, while the others were just stunned. Gibbs broke into the moment at this point. "Alright, let's go. Get some sleep, everyone. We've got work to do in the morning."

They all started, before shaking themselves out of it and heading for the door. Gibbs was, of course, the last one out of the room. All they needed now was the confession.


	10. Chapter 10: The Confessions

Disclaimer: I do not own _Danny Phantom_, _NCIS_, the frog experiment, or _Ghost_. Any and all information regarding sentencing of convicted military personnel came from the Code of Military Justice.

A/N: My apologies to my loyal readers for the long wait. Real Life kept me busy for a while, so it was difficult to find time to write. In any case, I finally finished the chapter you've all been waiting so patiently for.

Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed this story, as well as all of you who put this story, and me, on your assorted lists. I offer apples and honey and the candy of your choice to you all.

And now...

Chapter 10: The Confessions

The next afternoon, the team collected the new information into their case file. When Gibbs was satisfied, he announced, "Alright, I want Darvin and Lockerby in Interrogation."

Tony looked up in surprise. "But, Boss, what about Rule #1?"

Confused, McGee asked, "_Never screw over your partner_?"

Sighing in annoyance, Tony answered, "No, Probie. _Never let suspects stay together_."

Gibbs said, "In this case, we're making an exception."

* * *

Martin Lockerby was very confused. The agents hadn't tried to question him much since his arrest for trespass. Not that he'd said much. Of course, he hadn't been formally charged yet, either. Now, almost a day after his arrest, they wanted to talk to him again. What was going on?

Sitting at the table in Interrogation, the sergeant waited impatiently for an agent to come in. After a few minutes, the door opened again, to admit an agent escorting another prisoner. Martin was surprised to see the prisoner was someone he knew. "Bobby? What's going on?"

The escorting agent left the room without a word. Once alone, Bobby turned to his friend. "I'll get back to that. What are _you_ doing here?"

Martin sighed. "They have some evidence that I was connected to the break-in at Commander Lopez's office. I have no idea how they knew that there _was_ a break-in."

Bobby plopped down in the chair across from Martin. "Well, if you'd done your job right, they _wouldn't_ have known. Martin, all I know is that they connected me to Mr. MacLean's murder. Another thing they shouldn't have been able to do."

Martin yelled, "Forget about what they 'should have been able to do'! I _told_ you this would get attention we didn't want! It was bad enough you killed Evan. What was the point of killing his father?"

Avoiding the question, Darvin simply said, "Evan got too close to the truth. _You_ knew that, too."

"He was a good kid," Martin objected. "Killing him was a bad idea. I might not have thought so at the time, but it was. So he didn't join us... _big deal_!"

Bobby crossed his arms and glared. "He was too good. He was about to expose us. You _agreed_ that we had to get rid of him to protect our secret."

Martin stood up and leaned on the table. "I hope Gita was worth it for you. _I_ was only in it for the money and a chance to use my skills. Evan's lack of interest didn't _have_ to be a problem."

Bobby grumbled something under his breath, then, aloud, added, "Yeah, well... What _did_ you get during your break-in? Your e-mail was pretty vague."

Lockerby sighed in annoyance, sitting down again as he spoke. "It was vague because I couldn't figure it out. The patents called it a 'ghost shield'. I mean, it's pure nonsense! There's no such thing. They _must_ be using code names to refer to something else."

In the observation room, the team watched the conversation. Tony commented, "They must not have heard about the Guys in White or the Anti-Ecto Control Act."

Back in Interrogation, Martin came back to his earlier question. "Whatever happens with the break-in, the murder brought too much attention from investigators. _Why_ did you kill Evan's father? Evan was our best friend since Basic. David welcomed you into his home, almost like a second son. How could you kill a man that treated you like family?"

Bobby sat forward, leaning on the table. "I got distracted – the old man didn't want to give anything up on new security. He kept talking about how I wasn't supposed to have this information." He rolled his eyes. "Things might have looked suspicious, and I couldn't afford to have him pull all the pieces together."

Martin leaned forward as well, glaring at the other Marine. "You moron – we could have gotten away with information trafficking! You _could_ have gotten away with murder. I know I thought it was a good idea at the time, but killing Evan was unnecessary."

Bobby gave him an exasperated look. "I told you, at the time, why it had to be done! Not only was he going to turn us in, he was going to send the evidence home to his father..."

"He already did." Both Marines spun around in their seats on hearing the cold voice at the door. Agent Gibbs walked in, a thick file under one arm. "He sent it two days before he was killed."

Behind the mirror, Tony quipped, "He does it to _us_ so often, it's nice to see someone else get it from him once in while."

Darvin and Lockerby stared at the agent in front of them. In unison, they chorused, "What?"

Gibbs sat in a chair at the head of the table, putting the file down in front of him. "We found the evidence at his father's store. The package was never opened. But we know everything, now." He leaned forward to make his point. "You've just told us everything. All I want to know is: why?"

Darvin slumped a bit in his chair. "Will it help?"

Gibbs smiled coldly. "No. But I want to know anyway."

The two younger men looked at each other before coming to a decision. "Alright," Darvin said. "We'll tell you everything." Lockerby nodded in agreement.

Gibbs opened the file, pulling out an empty pad and a pencil. "Alright. Go ahead."

Darvin sighed. "It all started when I met Gita on a weekend pass into town. She's the daughter of a local sheik where we were stationed. It was all innocent at first. I'd meet her for a few minutes on my days off. Occasionally, we'd have longer meetings, if Evan decided to go to another part of town."

Gibbs looked up from writing. "When did it get less innocent?"

Darvin sat back to think. "I think it was about four months after I started seeing Gita that she took me to her home to meet her family. They... weren't too pleased that she was dating an American. Her father said I couldn't see her again unless I demonstrated to him that her family was just as important to me as they were to her. To do this, I had to keep him apprised of troop movements in the area my unit patrolled. He said it would help them avoid delays in travel due to random searches."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "I see. And this didn't raise any red flags for you?"

Darvin winced at the agent's tone. "No, though it should have. The thought of never seeing Gita again blinded me to anything else. But Evan _did_ see the changes." He sighed. "When they started paying me for the information I provided, I tried to make up to Evan for abandoning him by taking him out to local restaurants. But _that_ just raised his suspicions, because the places were more expensive than we could afford on our salaries."

In the observation room, McGee commented, "Sounds a lot like the experiments with boiling frogs in hot water."

Ziva turned to stare at him. "_What_ do frogs have to do with this?"

McGee took a breath and explained. "Well, the idea is that when a frog is put into water that's already hot, it hops out immediately. But if the frog is put into cold water, and the water is slowly heated, the frog will stay in until it boils to death." Ziva looked horrified. "The point is that Darvin was brought into the treason so slowly, he didn't even realize it was happening until he was too far in to want to get out."

Ziva nodded in understanding, but still looked disturbed at the thought of the frog experiment.

In Interrogation, Darvin continued. "The money continued to come, gradually increasing as the type of information requested increased in value. Evan was already investigating what I was doing, but I thought I could bring us closer together if I introduced him to Gita's family. Evan wasn't interested: he was very by-the-book, and wouldn't violate orders for _anything_."

Gibbs glared angrily at the sergeant. "His sense of morals was stronger than yours. Go on."

Darvin sighed as he continued. "Well, the money coming in was pretty good. But more was in the offing if I could gain access to information on the whole region. So, I e-mailed Martin, explaining that Evan wasn't involved. I told him about the opportunities to gain recognition for his skills."

Lockerby added, "I readily agreed. I'm a communications expert. This offered greater scope for my skills than what I was doing for the Corps. The money was an added incentive."

Darvin looked down at the table a moment before continuing. "It was around then that Evan changed his leave schedule. At first, it was just a bigger opportunity for me to meet my contacts without having to make excuses to Evan. Then, I found out that Evan was still investigating me. I still had to be careful.

"When we were rotated home, Martin and I continued to send information. Martin's communications expertise allowed us to receive wire transfers without arousing suspicion on the part of the military. But Evan kept track of things, even at home. He even kept in touch with friends who were still in Iraq, and he seemed very worried about the extra money we had.

"Evan and I went back for another tour, and things began to get more serious. By this point, the information Martin and I were selling was resulting in the deaths of Marines all over Iraq. It wasn't a regular occurrence in any one area, either. They knew enough to spread it out, so no one realized it was because the insurgents knew our troop placements. It looked, to most people, like a series of coincidences."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes. "I'll just bet it did. And this didn't bother you? Watching good Marines get killed this way?"

Darvin shrugged. "By then, all I cared about was seeing Gita and getting the money. That, and the fact that no one knew about my involvement.

"But Evan guessed at what was going on. About a week before Evan's last mission, I saw him put something in his foot locker. I only saw enough to realize he had evidence he could present to our superiors. I _had_ to do something. I convinced Martin, in an e-mail, that Evan was a threat. Then, I went to the captain, who was preparing dispatches for the next communication with the other unit in our area.

"I proposed Evan as the messenger, and the captain agreed that he was a good choice. Then, I went to my contacts and suggested they have a sniper on the route Evan would use. It was easy."

Gibbs growled, "It's _very_ easy when _you_ aren't the one pulling the trigger." The former Marine sniper knew all too well what Evan must have looked like through the sighting scope. "What about after Evan's death was confirmed?"

Darvin shrank a little in his chair at the agent's tone. "Well, as Evan's immediate superior, I was in charge of arranging his personal effects for shipment to his parents. I found his collected evidence, and destroyed it." He rolled his eyes before adding, "Or I _thought_ I did."

Gibbs smiled grimly. "Oh, you got it. You just didn't know he sent copies home before he died. Now, I already know what happened at the store." He turned to Lockerby. "Why don't you tell me about Commander Lopez's office?"

Lockerby blushed. "Well, Bobby hadn't been able to find out anything, so I decided to try. My clearance got me access to names of people who knew enough about the new security system for me to learn how to bypass it if needed. I picked Commander Lopez because her office was easy to access.

"I picked the lock on her filing cabinet and looked for the file on the new security system. The problem was that the information they had in the file didn't make any sense. It was all about ghosts, ectoplasm, and a dome of some kind surrounding the base. This Jack Fenton's logic is incomprehensible."

Gibbs nodded. From what he'd learned, Jack could build any working invention related to ghosts. The man just couldn't explain _how_ it worked to anyone who wasn't as knowledgeable about ghosts as he was.

Lockerby continued. "The thing I couldn't understand is: why all the talk about ghosts? It _had_ to be a code, but I couldn't decipher it. And the patent office had no idea what all those patented inventions were _for_."

Gibbs closed his file and stood up. "Well, where you're going, you won't need to worry about it." He went to the hall door and allowed two agents in. They each pulled out a pair of handcuffs and approached the two Marines as Gibbs walked out.

* * *

Gibbs joined his team in the observation room. They were collecting the tapes of the interview, having shut off the recording already. "Did we get it all?"

McGee looked up from labeling one of the tapes. "Yes, we did, Boss. We got every word."

"Good."

At that moment, a chill entered the room as Evan made his presence known. "Thanks, everyone. This is exactly what I was hoping would happen." He shook hands with all the agents. "So, Agent Gibbs, what'll they get?"

Gibbs considered this a moment. "Just for the espionage... they'll face execution."

Evan nodded. "I know I can trust you to see justice done. I'm ready to go home, now."

Puzzled, Gibbs said, "I thought you _were_ home."

Evan simply put a hand on the older man's shoulder. "You're a Marine, sir. You know what I mean."

They all watched in amazement as a white light appeared, and Evan walked into it, fading away as the light engulfed him. As the light vanished, the team simply stared in awe. Even Tony could say nothing, the obvious movie reference dying before it even occurred to him to mention it.

Finally, Gibbs whispered, "Semper Fidelis."


	11. Epilogue

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed over the course of my posting this story. I offer you all pumpkin pie and a seat in my sukkah. This chapter was not part of my original plan, but the characters demanded that it be written. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own _Danny Phantom_ or _NCIS_.

Epilogue

While the team finished sorting through the evidence and packing it away, Gibbs went back to the base. He arrived to find the Fentons packing the RV in preparation to leave for the next base. So far, only the inventions had been put into the vehicle.

"Agent Gibbs!" Maddie came out with a box filled with pieces of equipment. "What brings you here, today? I'm sure you noticed that the ghost shield is up and running, now."

Gibbs smiled. "Yes, I did. I stopped by to let you know our case has been solved."

"Really? So you found the man who killed the store owner?" Maddie put the box on top of a pile in the back of the RV.

Nodding, Gibbs replied, "We did, Mrs. Fenton." Then, he looked at the house. "Would you mind if I talk to your son for a few minutes? Alone?"

Maddie considered the request. "Not at all. I think he's finished his packing. The rest of us can finish loading the RV without him."

"Thanks." The two headed inside to find the teen.

Danny was in his room, closing his suitcase. He looked up in surprise when his mother came in with Agent Gibbs. "Danny, Agent Gibbs asked to talk to you before we leave. The rest of us will be loading the RV if you need us."

"Alright, Mom." Danny took a seat on his bed, and waited for his mother to leave. As soon as she was out of hearing, he said, "Hey, Agent Gibbs. What did you want to talk about?"

Gibbs turned the desk chair around and sat in it before answering. "First of all, Danny, I wanted to thank you for all your help on this case. We couldn't have solved it without you."

Danny blushed. "I try. It's what I do."

"I also wanted to tell you that both of our suspects confessed everything," the agent continued. "So your testimony won't be needed."

"That's a relief. The last thing I need is hardened murderers knowing _I'm_ the witness that helped put them away," Danny sighed in relief. "So what are they gonna get? Considering everything they did."

Gibbs smiled grimly. "At the very least, neither of them will see daylight for a _very_ long time, if ever again." He didn't think it was necessary to tell the kid what the maximum sentence would be.

Danny simply nodded. "Do you know what Evan will do, now? I didn't see him after I left, last night. And besides, he wouldn't be able to get on the base, with the shield up."

Gibbs leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. "Evan watched the interrogation this afternoon. Afterwards, he said goodbye and... moved on."

"That's good." Danny sighed. "He deserves to have a break after all this."

Gibbs nodded. "He certainly does. Oh, by the way..." The agent reached into a pocket, and pulled out a sheet of notepaper. "Abby asked me to give you this. She said she'd like to keep in touch with you."

Curious, Danny took the notepaper. It had Abby's name and e-mail address on it. "Cool! I'd love to have her as a penpal." The teen grinned excitedly.

Gibbs smiled amusedly. Then, something else occurred to him. "Are you planning on telling your parents your secret?"

Danny froze and looked at the man. "Not for a while yet."

"I really think you should," Gibbs told him. "I won't say anything, but I think your parents have a right to know."

Sighing, Danny rubbed the back of his neck in thought. "They'll probably find out, eventually. It's kind of inevitable. But I think I'd like to hold off a little longer."

"Alright, Danny," Gibbs acquiesced. "It's up to you how to play this. Just don't wait too long. It'll get to be a habit, and then you won't be able to tell them."

* * *

After Gibbs gave the team their instructions, he left to run a mysterious errand. Tony pondered what Gibbs could be doing now that the case was solved as he took the elevator down to Autopsy. The senior agent had been running quite a few of these errands over the course of this case. Did it have to do with the older man knowing Danny's secret already when the teen stopped by last night?

The doors to Autopsy slid open, and Tony came in to find Ducky at his desk. The ME was filling out paperwork. "Hey, Ducky," he greeted the older man.

The doctor looked up from his work. "Good afternoon, Anthony! How may I assist you?" He closed the file he was working on as he turned his chair to fully face his visitor.

Tony straightened his suit jacket and cleared his throat. "Gibbs sent me to pick up the autopsy report on David MacLean. We're collecting all of our evidence in one box."

"Ah, yes." Ducky turned to the pile on his desk. "I made a copy of my report in anticipation of that request. A most unusual case." He pulled a file out. "Both the murder victim and the witness completely undamaged by falling merchandise, despite the obvious violence with which it was thrown and the weight of it."

Tony reached for the file. "Well, maybe whoever threw it was aiming for the killer and didn't want to hit anyone else."

Ignoring Tony's outstretched hand, Ducky tapped the file in thought. "Perhaps. But it doesn't explain Danny being hit by both a heavy display case and the merchandise that fell from its shelves, and bearing no bruises, contusions, or any sign of head trauma. A case that heavy _should_ have caused a minor concussion at the least."

Dropping his hand, Tony sighed. "Where ghosts are involved, who can say?"

"Ghosts?" Ducky studied the younger man intently. "When did ghosts enter our discussion?"

Tony winced. Gibbs would kill him. "They didn't." At least, not directly.

Ducky nodded. "I see. Were you, perhaps, referring to young Danny?" At the terrified look on Tony's face, the doctor quickly reassured, "Don't worry, Anthony. I shall say nothing. And if Gibbs asks, I will tell him that I figured it out on my own."

"How?" Tony was still too shocked that Ducky knew to ask more clearly.

Ducky chuckled. "I had quite a long talk with Mr. Fenton about ghosts. What I learned explained a number of oddities about Danny. But I wasn't completely certain until our conversation a moment ago. You must learn how to guard your tongue more carefully to be successful at guile, my boy."

Tony sighed. "I guess so."

Ducky patted him on the arm, then held out the file. "Danny's secret is safe with me. Now, you'd best get this upstairs before the rest start wondering where you've gone."

Taking the file, Tony grinned. "Thanks, Ducky." Then, he headed back to the elevator.


End file.
